Flora of North America species comparison

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Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

black spleenwort
Roots

not proliferous.
Stems

ascending or short-creeping, infrequently branched;

scales dark brown to blackish throughout, narrowly deltate, 2–4(–5) × 0.2–0.5 mm, margins entire or shallowly denticulate to serrulate.
Leaves

monomorphic.
Petiole

dark reddish brown proximally, often fading to green distally, lustrous, 2–20 cm, 2/3–2 times length of blade;

indument of black filiform scales and minute hairs.
Blade

deltate, 2–3-pinnate, 2.5–10 × 2–6.5 cm, thick, hairs dark, scattered, minute;

base truncate;

apex acute to acuminate, not rooting.
Pinnae

in 4–10 pairs, deltate to lanceolate;

most proximal (largest) pinnae 1.5–4 × 1–2.5 cm;

base obliquely obtuse;

segment margins coarsely incised;

apex acute.
Veins

free, evident.
Sori

1–numerous pairs per pinna [1–6 pairs per segment], on both basiscopic and acroscopic sides.
Spores

64 per sporangium.
Rachis

greenish throughout or sometimes reddish brown proximally, lustrous, sparsely pubescent.
2n

= 144.

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
Habitat Cliffs
Elevation 1675–2300 m (5500–7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; UT; Eurasia; Africa
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is principally a Eurasian species and occurs extremely rarely in North America (see M. G. Shivas 1969 and M. D. Windham 1983 for a discussion of the conspecificity of Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere material). It is an allotetraploid derived from hybridization of two European taxa, A. cuneifolium Viviani and A. onopteris Linnaeus (M. G. Shivas 1969). Hybrids involving A. adiantum-nigrum and other Asplenium species occur in Europe but are unknown in North America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Aspleniaceae > Asplenium
Sibling taxa
A. abscissum, A. adulterinum, A. auritum, A. bradleyi, A. cristatum, A. dalhousiae, A. ebenoides, A. exiguum, A. heterochroum, A. monanthes, A. montanum, A. palmeri, A. pinnatifidum, A. platyneuron, A. plenum, A. pumilum, A. resiliens, A. rhizophyllum, A. ruta-muraria, A. scolopendrium, A. septentrionale, A. serratum, A. trichomanes, A. trichomanes-dentatum, A. trichomanes-ramosum, A. verecundum, A. vespertinum, A. ×biscayneanum, A. ×curtissii, A. ×heteroresiliens
Synonyms A. andrewsii, A. chihuahuense, A. dubiosum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1081. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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