Native Plants
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Asplenium septentrionale
Asplenium septentrionale (L.) Hoffm.
Forked Spleenwort, Grassfern
Aspleniaceae (Spleenwort Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: ASSE
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
Plant Characteristics
Duration: PerennialHabit: Herb , Fern
Leaf Complexity: Simple , Pinnate
Leaf Pubescence: Glabrous
Leaf Apex: Acute
Leaf Texture: Leathery
Size Notes: Dense tufts with leaves up to about 6 inches long.
Leaf: Leaves are sometimes simple, but more often divided into two (occasionally four) pinnae near the leaf tip.
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Not ApplicableBloom Notes: Non-flowering, sporulating plant.
Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , CO , ID , NM , OK , OR , SD , TX , UT , WV , WYNative Distribution: Most of southwestern US and Baja California and disjunct populations in West Virginia. Also native to Europe and Asia. A diploid subspecies, A. s. var. caucasicum is native to Asia. The North American subspecies, A. s. var. septentrionale is a tetraploid and is circumboreal.
Native Habitat: Cliffs, ledges, rocks and rock crevices on a variety of substrates.
Web Reference
Webref 3 - Flora of North America (2014) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.Additional resources
USDA: Find Asplenium septentrionale in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Asplenium septentrionale in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Asplenium septentrionale
Metadata
Record Modified: 2018-11-14Research By: Joseph A. Marcus