Asplenium flaccidum

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales > Aspleniineae >  Aspleniaceae > Asplenium flaccidum

Other links:    https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Asplenium~flaccidum      

Plant  information

Common name:               Drooping Spleenwort 

• Also, Weeping Spleenwort

Conservation status:   . . .

Etymology:   

• From New Latin asplenium (“the spleenworts”), from its use to cure anthrax in livestock

• The species name flaccidum derives from the Latin root meaning drooping

Spores:                    

• Sori appearing marginal

• Solitary on each secondary pinna

• 2–7 mm long

Leaves:         

•  Fronds pendent, to 90 cm long

• 1–2-pinnate with pinnae often deeply pinnatisect or 2-pinnatisect

• Veins free

• Lamina bright green, thick and leathery, never giving rise to proliferous buds

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• Rhizome short-creeping, thick

• Covered with dark brown to black scales

Habit:        

• A ground fern 

Habitat:   

• Often forming large pendent clumps in rainforest

• Growing on trees or rocks

Distribution:                  

•  NSW

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • A global phylogeny of Asplenium published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades

  • These were given informal names pending further taxonomic study

  • A. flaccidum belongs to the "Neottopteris clade", members of which generally have somewhat leathery leaf tissue

  • It forms a clade with A. appendiculatum and A. chathamense

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asplenium_flaccidum (2023)