Asplenium adiantum-nigrum explained

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort. It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the United States.^[1]

Description

This spleenwort has thick, triangular leaf blades up to 10 centimeters long which are divided into several subdivided segments. It is borne on a reddish green petiole and the rachis is shiny and slightly hairy. The undersides of each leaf segment have one or more sori^[1] arranged in chains.^[2]

Taxonomy

Linnaeus was the first to describe black spleenwort with the binomial Asplenium adiantum-nigrum in his Species Plantarum of 1753.^[3]

A chloroplast phylogeny verified the allopolyploid origin of A. adiantum-nigrum, with A. cuneifolium supplying the paternal genome and A. onopteris the maternal genome.

Native distribution

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is native to:

Africa

• Northern and Southern Africa in: Algeria; Lesotho; Morocco; the provinces of South Africa including Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and Western Cape; and Tunisia.

Asia

• Western Asia and Central Asia in - the Caucasus; Azerbaijan; Cyprus; the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt; Kyrgyzstan; Ciscaucasia and Dagestan in Russia; and Turkey.

Europe

• Albania

Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France (including Corsica); Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy (including Sardinia); the Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal, Romania; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine (including Krym); the United Kingdom; and in the Balkan Peninsula (former Yugoslavia)

Macaronesia

• Macaronesian archipelagoes of: the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands.

North America

• Southwestern United States – Arizona, Colorado, and Utah

Oceania

• Hawaii^[1]

In Hawaii, this native fern grows on cinder cones and lava flows,^[4] and it is present in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.^[2]

References

• Xu . Ke-Wang . Zhang . Liang . Rothfels . Carl J. . Smith . Alan R. . Viane . Ronald . Lorence . David . Wood . Kenneth R. . Cheng . Cheng-Wei . Knapp . Ralf . Zhou . Lin . Lu . Ngan Thi . Zhou . Xin-Mao . Wei . Hong-Jin . Fan . Qiang . Chen . Su-Fang . Cicuzza . Daniele . Gao . Xin-Fen . Li . Wen-Bo . Zhang . Li-Bing . A global plastid phylogeny of the fern genus Asplenium (Aspleniaceae) . 2020 . Cladistics . 36 . 1 . 22–71 . 10.1111/cla.12384. 34618950 . 201197385 . free .

External links

• USDA Plants Profile - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: 1993 . Asplenium adiantum-nigrum . Flora of North America Editorial Committee . Wagner . Warren H. Jr. . Moran . Robbin C. . Werth . Charles R. . Charles R. Werth . Flora of North America North of Mexico . 2: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms . Oxford University Press . New York and Oxford .
2. Esser, Lora L. 1994. Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
3. Book: Linnaeus, C. . Species Plantarum . 1st . II . Carl Linnaeus . 1753 . Laurentii Salvii . Stockholm . 1081.
4. http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Asplenium+adiantum-nigrum Asplenium adiantum-nigrum.