Asplenium pteridoides

Asplenium pteridoides is a species of terrestrial fern in the family Aspleniaceae. It is endemic to Australia's subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. It is restricted to the cool, moist understorey of the forest on the island's southern mountains.^[1]

Asplenium pteridoides
Asplenium pteridoides in Wellington Botanical Garden
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Aspleniineae
Family:	Aspleniaceae
Genus:	Asplenium
Species:	A. pteridoides
Binomial name
Asplenium pteridoides Baker
Synonyms
Asplenium howeanum (Watts) W.R.B.Oliv. Asplenium bulbiferum var. howeanum Watts

Taxonomy

A global phylogeny of Asplenium published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades,^[2] which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study. A. pteridoides belongs to the "Neottopteris clade",^[3] members of which generally have somewhat leathery leaf tissue. It forms a clade with A. milnei and A. surrogatum, two other Lord Howe Island endemics, suggesting that all three species diverged after a single colonization of the island by their ancestor.^[4] This clade is sister to a large group of Pacific Ocean spleenworts.^[3]