#aspleniaceae

[chlorophyll-and-chitin]

Opisthoncus sp. on Asplenium sp.

31-OCT-2025

Kings Domain, Melbourne, Vic

[flower-daily]

Asplenium ruta-muraria

Wall rue

f. Aspleniaceae

picture by sebsant on iNaturalist

[drhoz]

#2189 - Asplenium australasicum - Bird's Nest Fern

A very large epiphytic fern endemic to Australia, with a somewhat complicated taxonomic history, not helped by the fact that it's anatomy is so simple that there's not much to distinguish it from related species. For example, Japanese ferns which were considered to be A. australasicum were found to be so genetically distinct they got renamed A. setori. It's also very similar to Asplenium nidus, which unhelpfully is also called Bird's Nest Fern, and is found from east tropical Africa, across Asia to Japan, and in northern Australia and various Pacific Islands.

The fern can grow to over a meter and a half across, collecting falling plant debris in the middle of the rosette - and also acquiring snakes, which can be a surprise for fern collectors. A popular ornamental plant, where given sufficient drainage, and grown as a vegetable for the growing fronds in Taiwan.

Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales

[francescointoppa]

Due specie di Asplenio (Aspleniaceae): in alto al centro Asplenium trichomanes L., in basso A. ceterach L.

[syngoniums]

Orchid show haul! This was a pretty great year.

- Nepenthes glandulifera x (spathulata x jacqulineae)

- Nepenthes truncata

- Nepenthes veitchii 'Big Mama' x 'Pink Candy Cane'

- Amorphophallus titanum(!)

+ a medley of hybrid orchids from other sellers, and a really nice variegated Asplenium nidum!

[my-name-is-dahlia]

Lasagna fern Asplenium nidus var. plicatum Aspleniaceae

Photographs taken on March 19, 2019, at Forsgate Conservatory, Hong Kong Park, Hong Kong.

[pnwbotany]

[edited] Maidenhair Spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes (Aspleniaceae). #spleenwort #aspleniumtrichomanes #aspleniaceae #ferns #plants #botany #plantphotography #plantsofinstagram #naturephotography (at North Bend, Washington)
https://www.instagram.com/pnw_botany/p/BxaFwNcl9Nm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1s555olsdsf95

[regnum-plantae]

Asplenium ceterach, syn. Ceterach officinarum, Aspleniaceae

Dry stone walls -as in, walls built by stacking natural stones without the use of mortar- are always a good place to look for interesting species, generally undemanding and very resilient ones. In this case it was a little evergreen fern known as rustyback which caught my attention while I was hill-walking in northern Italy. Native to Europe and Asia, it’s present here in Scotland, but not nearly as common as it is in the rest of the British Isles and Italy due to its preference for a mostly dry and alkaline substrate in full sun, being fully adapted to survive and recover from desiccation. The common name refers to the colour of the hairy inferior page of the fronds, visible in the photos. If you check the bottom one carefully, you will also see a small A. thricomanes, a related and very common fern I’m particularly fond of and which I have already written about. In Italy it has a history as a medicinal plant, having been used mostly to treat bladder and kidney stones and as a diuretic.