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Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, commonly treated as the only genus in the family Aspleniaceae, though some species are occasionally segregated into their own genera. Common names include spleenwort (many species), bird's-nest fern (A. nidus and several allied species), with other distinct names applied to a few individual species. Several species are placed by some pteridologists in the separate genera Camptosorus and Phyllitis, but these species can form hybrids with other Asplenium species and because of this are sometimes included in a more broadly defined Asplenium.
Both the scientific name and the common name spleenwort are derived from an old belief, based on the doctrine of signatures, that the fern was useful for ailments of the spleen, due to the spleen-shaped sori on the backs of the fronds (wort is an ancient name that simply means plant).
A few of these ferns have some economic importance in the horticulture trade. The Bird's-nest Fern (Asplenium nidus and several very similar, closely related species) are commonly found for sale as a house plant. The Australian Asplenium bulbiferum is sometimes available at greenhouses, and is of interest, along with the related Asplenium viviparum, for the many small bulblets borne on the fronds that may grow into new plants. This characteristic is also shared with the eastern North American Walking Fern Asplenium rhizophyllum, and several Mexican species, including Asplenium palmeri. The Ebony Spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron of North America is also sometimes sold in nurseries as a hardy plant. However, many spleenworts are epipetric or epiphytic and difficult to cultivate.
Some classifications include Asplenium in the order Aspleniales.
Asplenium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Batrachedra bedelliella, which feeds exclusively on A. nidus.
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Asplenium trichomanes (left) and A. adiantum-nigrum (right), from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885
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Asplenium ruta muraria (left) and A. septentrionale (right), from Lindman, Bilder ur Nordens Flora 1917–1926
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- Selected species
- Asplenium adiantum-nigrum - Black Spleenwort
- Asplenium adulterinum
- Asplenium aethiopicum
- Asplenium africanum
- Asplenium antiquum
- Asplenium attenuatum
- Asplenium aureum (Ceterach aureum)
- Asplenium auritum
- Asplenium australasicum - Crow's-nest Fern
- Asplenium billottii - Lanceolate Spleenwort
- Asplenium bipinnatifidum
- Asplenium brachycarpum
- Asplenium bradleyi
- Asplenium bulbiferum - Mother Fern, Hen & Chicken Fern
- Asplenium caudatum
- Asplenium ceterach (Ceterach officinarum) - Rustyback Fern
- Asplenium cheilosorum
- Asplenium crinicaule
- Asplenium cristatum
- Asplenium cuneifolium - Serpentine Spleenwort
- Asplenium cymbifolium
- Asplenium dalhousiae (Ceterach dalhousiae)
- Asplenium dareoides
- Asplenium daucifolium - Mauritius Spleenwort
- Asplenium difforme
- Asplenium dimorphum - Norfolk Island Spleenwort
- Asplenium divaricatum
- Asplenium dregeanum
- Asplenium ebenoides
- Asplenium fissum
- Asplenium flabellifolium - Necklace Fern
- Asplenium flaccidum - Weeping Spleenwort
- Asplenium fontanum - Smooth Rock Spleenwort
- Asplenium forisiense - Rock Spleenwort
- Asplenium formosum
- Asplenium gemmiferum
- Asplenium hemionitis
- Asplenium hookerianum
- Asplenium hybridum
- Asplenium incisum
- Asplenium laciniatum
- Asplenium laserpitiifolium - Johnston River Fern
- Asplenium lepidum
- Asplenium longissimum
- Asplenium lunulatum
- Asplenium lyallii
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- Asplenium majoricum
- Asplenium marinum - Sea Spleenwort
- Asplenium montanum - Mountain Spleenwort
- Asplenium musifolium
- Asplenium nidus - Bird's-nest Fern
- Asplenium normale
- Asplenium obliquum
- Asplenium oblongifolium - Shining Spleenwort
- Asplenium obovatum
- Asplenium obtusatum
- Asplenium oligophlebium
- Asplenium onopteris - Western Black Spleenwort
- Asplenium paleaceum - Chaffy Spleenwort
- Asplenium petrarchae
- Asplenium pinnatifidum - Lobed Spleenwort
- Asplenium planicaule
- Asplenium platyneuron - Ebony Spleenwort
- Asplenium polyodon - Sickle Spleenwort
- Asplenium praemorsum
- Asplenium prolongatum
- Asplenium pteridioides
- Asplenium resiliens - Black-stem Spleenwort
- Asplenium rhizophyllum (Camptosorus rhizophyllus) - Walking Fern
- Asplenium richardii
- Asplenium ruprechtii (Camptosorus sibiricus)
- Asplenium ruta-muraria - Wall-rue
- Asplenium rustifolium
- Asplenium sagittatum (Phyllitis sagittatum) - Mule's Spleenwort
- Asplenium sandersonii
- Asplenium scleroprium
- Asplenium scolopendrium (Phyllitis scolopendrium) - Hart's-tongue Fern
- Asplenium seelosii
- Asplenium septentrionale - Forked Spleenwort
- Asplenium serra
- Asplenium serratum
- Asplenium shuttleworthianum
- Asplenium simplicifrons
- Asplenium splendens
- Asplenium tenerum
- Asplenium terrestre
- Asplenium thunbergii
- Asplenium trichomanes - Maidenhair Spleenwort
- Asplenium unilaterale
- Asplenium vieillardii
- Asplenium viride - Green Spleenwort
- Asplenium vittiforme
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