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.
Description This spleenwort has thick, triangular leaf blades up to 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 arranged in chains.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).
Taxonomy Linnaeus was the first to describe black spleenwort with the binomial Asplenium adiantum-nigrum in his Species Plantarum of 1753.
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 In Hawaii, this native fern grows on cinder cones and lava flows,Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. The Nature Conservancy. and it is present in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum