Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort.^[3] It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the United States.^[3][4]

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Aspleniineae
Family:	Aspleniaceae
Genus:	Asplenium
Species:	A. adiantum-nigrum
Binomial name
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum L.[1]
Synonyms[2]
Asplenium andrewsii A.Nelson Asplenium lucidum Burm.f.

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^[4] arranged in chains.^[5]

Taxonomy

Linnaeus was the first to describe black spleenwort with the binomial Asplenium adiantum-nigrum in his Species Plantarum of 1753.^[6]

A chloroplast phylogeny verified the allopolyploid origin of A. adiantum-nigrum, with A. cuneifolium supplying the paternal genome and A. onopteris the maternal genome.^[7]

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^[3]

Oceania

• Hawaii^[4]

In Hawaii, this native fern grows on cinder cones and lava flows,^[8] and it is present in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.^[5]