Asplenium gracillimum
{{Short description|Species of fern}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = mother spleenwort
| image = Mother_Spleenwort_frond_tips.jpg
| image_caption = New plantlets growing from fronds of A. gracillimum near their apex
| image_alt = dangling frond tips of a fern, with new fronds growing from them near the tip
| genus = Asplenium
| species = gracillimum
| authority = Colenso
| synonyms = * Asplenium bulbiferum subsp. gracillimum (Colenso) Brownsey
}}
Asplenium gracillimum is a fern species native to Australia and New Zealand, also found in Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands.{{cite web |title=Asplenium gracillimum|url=https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/asplenium-gracillimum/|work=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network|access-date= 25 June 2020}} The specific epithet gracillimum refers to the slender and graceful appearance of this fern.{{cite web |title=Asplenium gracillimum Colenso|url=http://www.nzflora.info/factsheet/taxon/Asplenium-gracillimum.html|work=New Zealand Flora|access-date= 25 June 2020}}
Description
A. gracillimum individuals occasionally grow small bulbils on top of their fronds, which can fall off and grow into new ferns. There are a number of similar Southern Hemisphere species which have a similar mode of reproduction, including A. daucifolium and Polystichum australiense. Fronds range from 10.5 to 108 cm long. A. gracillimum has larger spores than A. bulbiferum, and fewer bulbils. The scales are ovate on A. bulbiferum, but narrower and almost always drawn out into thin threadlike points in A. gracillimum (filiform apices). The selected lectotype was Dannevirke, New Zealand.
Taxonomy
The species is an allotetraploid hybrid between A. bulbiferum and A. hookerianum. It was previously known as Asplenium bulbiferum subsp. gracillimum.{{cite web |title=Asplenium gracillimum|work=Vascular Plants Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/184478/api/apni-format|access-date= 25 June 2020}}{{cite journal|last1=Shepherd|first1=LD|last2=Perrie|first2=LR|last3=Brownsey|first3=PJ|year=2008a|title=Low-copy nuclear DNA sequences reveal a predominance of allopolyploids in a New Zealand Asplenium fern complex|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=49|issue=1|pages=240–248|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.06.015|pmid=18640280}}{{cite web |title=Asplenium gracillimum|work=PlantNET, New South Wales Flora Online|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Asplenium~gracillimum|access-date= 3 July 2020}}
A 2020 plastid phylogeny of Asplenium showed a sample of the species nested within a clade containing both of its parents.{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Ke-Wang |last2=Zhang |first2=Liang |last3=Rothfels |first3=Carl J. |last4=Smith |first4=Alan R. |last5=Viane |first5=Ronald |last6=Lorence |first6=David |last7=Wood |first7=Kenneth R. |last8=Cheng |first8=Cheng-Wei |last9=Knapp |first9=Ralf |last10=Zhou |first10=Lin |last11=Lu |first11=Ngan Thi |last12=Zhou |first12=Xin-Mao |last13=Wei |first13=Hong-Jin |last14=Fan |first14=Qiang |last15=Chen |first15=Su-Fang |last16=Cicuzza |first16=Daniele |last17=Gao |first17=Xin-Fen |last18=Li |first18=Wen-Bo |last19=Zhang |first19=Li-Bing |title=A global plastid phylogeny of the fern genus Asplenium (Aspleniaceae) |year=2020 |journal=Cladistics |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=22–71 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cla.12384 |doi=10.1111/cla.12384|pmid=34618950 |s2cid=201197385 |doi-access=free }}
Distribution and habitat
The hen and chicken fern commonly grows in most bush areas in New Zealand. It thrives in many situations from shade to partial sunlight. Often seen in moist or rainforest areas in eastern Australia, occasionally as an epiphyte on tree ferns or tree trunks.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17170535}}
Category:Flora of the Chatham Islands
Category:Flora of New South Wales
Category:Flora of Victoria (state)
Category:Flora of South Australia