Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Asplenium palmeri

Asplenium scolopendrium

Palmer's spleenwort

Hart's-tongue fern
Roots

not proliferous.

Stems

short-creeping, unbranched;

scales black with lighter margins, linear-lanceolate, 1.5–3 × 0.1–0.4 mm, margins entire.

Leaves

monomorphic.

Petiole

purplish black, lustrous, 0.5–3 cm, 1/3–1/20 length of blade;

indument of black filiform scales at base.

Blade

linear, 1-pinnate throughout, 7–17.5 × 0.9–1.8 cm, thick, glabrous;

base gradually reduced;

apex gradually reduced to whiplike rooting tip.

Pinnae

in (12–)20–40 pairs, oblong;

medial pinnae 6–9 × 3–4 mm;

base broadly cuneate or auriculate;

margins crenate-serrate;

apex obtuse.

Veins

free, obscure.

Sori

3–7 pairs per pinna, on both basiscopic and acroscopic sides.

Spores

64 per sporangium.

Rachis

purplish black throughout, lustrous, glabrous or nearly so.

Asplenium palmeri

Asplenium scolopendrium
Habitat Shaded rocky slopes, wet ledges, often in protected places
Elevation 900–2000(–2750) m (3000–6600(–9000) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America in Guatemala; Belize
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; MI; NY; TN; ON; Mexico; West Indies in Hispaniola; Europe
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 or 3 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Aspleniaceae > Asplenium Aspleniaceae > Asplenium
Sibling taxa
A. abscissum, A. adiantum-nigrum, A. adulterinum, A. auritum, A. bradleyi, A. cristatum, A. dalhousiae, A. ebenoides, A. exiguum, A. heterochroum, A. monanthes, A. montanum, 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
A. abscissum, A. adiantum-nigrum, 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. septentrionale, A. serratum, A. trichomanes, A. trichomanes-dentatum, A. trichomanes-ramosum, A. verecundum, A. vespertinum, A. ×biscayneanum, A. ×curtissii, A. ×heteroresiliens
Subordinate taxa
A. scolopendrium var. americanum
Synonyms A. altajense, Phyllitis scolopendrium
Name authority Maxon: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 13: 39. (1909) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1079. (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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers