Asplenium flaccidum
Drooping Spleenwort
Drooping Spleenwort
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
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: