| Asplenium fontanum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Suborder: | Aspleniineae |
| Family: | Aspleniaceae |
| Genus: | Asplenium |
| Species: | A. fontanum |
| Binomial name | |
| Asplenium fontanum (L.) Bernh. | |
| Synonyms | |
Polypodium f L. | |
Asplenium fontanum, commonly known as fountain spleenwort [2] or smooth rock spleenwort, [3] is a species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae, native to rocky areas in Western Europe. [4]
Asplenium fontanum is a rhizomatous fern with fronds up to 20 cm (8 in) long grouped in bundles. The rhizomes are clad in dark brown scales. The fronds are born on stems that may be as long as the blades. These are pinnate, with eight to twenty toothed pinnules up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long on each side, the longest being in the middle of the blade. The basal part of the stem is brown and the remainder of the stem and the blade are bright green. The sori are distributed in groups of two or three on the underside of the pinnules. [3] [5]
A global phylogeny of Asplenium published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades, [6] which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study. A. fontanum belongs to the "A. incisum subclade" of the "Schaffneria clade". [7] The Schaffneria clade has a worldwide distribution, and members vary widely in form and habitat. [8] There is no clear morphological feature that has evolved within the A. incisum subclade to define it, but members of the subclade do share a chestnut-brown stipe base. [9] It forms a clade with A. foresiense , and the two together are sister to the North American A. platyneuron . [7]
This species grows in Western Europe, occurring mainly in the mountains of Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. It is a rupicolous (rock-dwelling) species growing in cracks and fissures in limestone crags in cool and shady positions. It prefers relatively high mountain areas, but also occurs at lower elevations on north-facing rocks or under overhangs. Its altitudinal range is 300 to 2,400 m (1,000 to 8,000 ft). [1] In the nineteenth century it was reported as growing in the British Isles, with records from Amersham churchyard, from beside a waterfall in Westmorland or Northumberland and on the castle walls at Alnwick; the fern does not grow in Britain any longer. [3]
Although its total area of occupancy is low, having disappeared from Britain and other European countries, the population of this fern is stable, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". [2] Some populations may be threatened by quarrying, mining or other human activities, but the IUCN notes that the main threat it faces is likely to be from climate change; a rise in average temperatures or prolonged droughts may affect it adversely. [2]
Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, often treated as the only genus in the family Aspleniaceae, though other authors consider Hymenasplenium separate, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences, a different chromosome count, and structural differences in the rhizomes. The type species for the genus is Asplenium marinum.
Asplenium platyneuron, commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy stipe and rachis, which support a once-divided, pinnate leaf. The fertile fronds, which die off in the winter, are darker green and stand upright, while the sterile fronds are evergreen and lie flat on the ground. An auricle at the base of each pinna points towards the tip of the frond. The dimorphic fronds and alternate, rather than opposite, pinnae distinguish it from the similar black-stemmed spleenwort.
Ophioglossum azoricum, the small adder's-tongue fern or lesser adder's-tongue fern, is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae.
Asplenium bulbiferum, known as mother spleenwort, is a fern species native to New Zealand only. It is also called hen and chicken fern and, in the Māori language, pikopiko, mouku or mauku. Its fronds are eaten as a vegetable.
Asplenium rhizophyllum, the (American) walking fern, is a frequently-occurring fern native to North America. It is a close relative of Asplenium ruprechtii which is found in East Asia and also goes by the common name of "walking fern".
Asplenium ruprechtii, which goes by the common name Asian Walking Fern, is a rare, hardy, low-lying fern native to East Asia. It is a close relative of Asplenium rhizophyllum which is found in North America and also goes by the common name of walking fern. The species should not be confused with Asplenium sibiricum which is a synonym of Diplazium sibiricum.
Asplenium ceterach is a fern species commonly known as rustyback.
Asplenium septentrionale is a species of fern known by the common names northern spleenwort and forked spleenwort. It is native to Europe, Asia and western North America, where it grows on rocks. Its long, slender leaves give it a distinctive appearance. Three subspecies exist, corresponding to a tetraploid and a diploid cytotype and their triploid hybrid.
Asplenium vespertinum is a species of fern known by the common name western spleenwort. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in moist, shady, rocky places, such as the shadows beneath cliff overhangs.
Asplenium montanum, commonly known as the mountain spleenwort, is a small fern endemic to the eastern United States. It is found primarily in the Appalachian Mountains from Vermont to Alabama, with a few isolated populations in the Ozarks and in the Ohio Valley. It grows in small crevices in sandstone cliffs with highly acid soil, where it is usually the only vascular plant occupying that ecological niche. It can be recognized by its tufts of dark blue-green, highly divided leaves. The species was first described in 1810 by the botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow. No subspecies have been described, although a discolored and highly dissected form was reported from the Shawangunk Mountains in 1974. Asplenium montanum is a diploid member of the "Appalachian Asplenium complex," a group of spleenwort species and hybrids which have formed by reticulate evolution. Members of the complex descended from A. montanum are among the few other vascular plants that can tolerate its typical habitat.
Asplenium bradleyi, commonly known as Bradley's spleenwort or cliff spleenwort, is a rare epipetric fern of east-central North America. Named after Professor Frank Howe Bradley, who first collected it in Tennessee, it may be found infrequently throughout much of the Appalachian Mountains, the Ozarks, and the Ouachita Mountains, growing in small crevices on exposed sandstone cliffs. The species originated as a hybrid between mountain spleenwort and ebony spleenwort ; A. bradleyi originated when that sterile diploid hybrid underwent chromosome doubling to become a fertile tetraploid, a phenomenon known as allopolyploidy. Studies indicate that the present population of Bradley's spleenwort arose from several independent doublings of sterile diploid hybrids. A. bradleyi can also form sterile hybrids with several other spleenworts.
Asplenium anceps is a diploid fern of family Aspleniaceae and one of the ancestors of the ferns that form the trichomanes complex. It lives exclusively in the three northernmost archipelagoes of the Macaronesian region, that is, is an endemic macaronesian fern. Its fronds are leathery and plastic and rachis is very thick, bright reddish brown and is traversed throughout its length of three wings, two on the upper surface to draw a groove and a third on the lower surface which is characteristic and unique to this species, since all other species of the trichomanes complex without. A typical feature of this fern, which he shares with all its hybrid offspring is the existence of a small atrium on the basis of medium and less pinnae directed toward the apex of the blade with one or two sori on its underside.
Asplenium viride is a species of fern known as the green spleenwort because of its green stipes and rachides. This feature easily distinguishes it from the very similar-looking maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes.
Woodwardia radicans, the chain fern, European chain fern or rooting chainfern, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, mainly found in Macaronesia and southwestern Europe, but is also found in southern Italy and Crete. Growing to 1.8 m (6 ft) tall by 2 m (7 ft) broad, it is evergreen with arching fronds. The pinnae have curved, finely-toothed segments. The plant derives its common name from the linked sori on the undersides of the fronds.
Davallia canariensis, the hare's-foot fern, is a species of fern in the family Davalliaceae. It is endemic to Macaronesia and the Iberian Peninsula. It grows well in a sunny atmosphere and amongst rocks.
Asplenium appendiculatum, ground spleenwort, is a common native fern to Australia and New Zealand. It usually grows in cool damp conditions, among rocks, on logs or as an epiphyte.
Asplenium haughtonii, also known as the Barn fern, is a species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae. It is native to Saint Helena.
Culcita macrocarpa, the woolly tree fern, is a species of fern in the family Culcitaceae native to Macaronesia and parts of the Iberian Peninsula, where it might have been introduced.
Ceradenia jungermannioides, the mossy finger fern, is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae indigenous to the Neotropical realm and the Azores.
Asplenium hemionitis is a species of fern native to Macaronesia, Northwest Africa and mainland Portugal. It inhabits humid woods and other shady areas, sometimes in uncovered slopes subject to high ocean humidity.
