Asplenium pinnatifidum
Asplenium auritum
lobed spleenwort
eared spleenwort
not proliferous.
proliferous.
short-creeping to erect, frequently branched;
scales dark reddish brown, narrowly deltate, 3–5 × 0.3–0.5 mm, margins entire.
erect, unbranched;
scales brown throughout, broadly linear, 1–2 × 0.7–1.1 mm, margins shallowly and widely dentate.
monomorphic.
monomorphic.
dark reddish brown at base, fading to green in distal 1/3–1/2, lustrous, 1–10 cm, 1/5–1 times length of blade;
indument of dark reddish brown, narrowly deltate scales at very base, grading distally into hairs.
green to black, dull, 2–10(–12) cm, 1/3–1/2 length of blade;
indument absent.
narrowly deltate, often irregular in outline, pinnatifid or often with single pair of pinnae proximally, 2–17(–20) × 1–4(–13) cm, thick, pubescent abaxially only;
base truncate, cordate, or auriculate;
apex acute to long-attenuate, proliferous bud very rare, not known to root in nature.
narrowly deltate, 1–2-pinnate, 4–20(–30) × 1.8–12(–18) cm, thick, nearly glabrous;
base not tapered;
apex gradually tapered, not rooting.
0–1 pair, ovate to deltate, sometimes narrowly so, 5–20(–90) × 0.4–1(–1.2) mm;
base truncate to acute;
margins crenate to serrate;
apex rounded to attenuate.
in 10–22 pairs, linear-deltate, medial pinnae 1–4(–9) × 0.3–1(–2.5) cm;
base with acroscopic auricle or pinnule enlarged, excavated in proximal 1/5–1/4;
margins mostly 1–2-dentate-serrate, or lobed or pinnate proximally or in proximal 2/3;
apex blunt in some 1-pinnate forms, gradually reduced to attenuate in strongly 2-pinnate forms;
pinnules narrow, not auriculate.
free (rarely anastomosing), obscure.
free, evident.
1–6(–40+) per segment, usually confluent with age.
4–9(–10) pairs per pinna, subcostal, nearly parallel to costae on both basiscopic and acroscopic sides.
64 per sporangium.
64 per sporangium.
green, sometimes drying to tan, dull;
hairs on abaxial surface only, scattered, minute.
green to black, dull, abaxially glabrous.
= 144.
Asplenium pinnatifidum
Asplenium auritum
Asplenium pinnatifidum is an allotetraploid derived from the hybrid A. montanum × rhizophyllum. Although isozyme studies indicate that this species originated at more than one site (C. R. Werth et al. 1985b), the sterile diploid hybrid is unknown. The species is uncommon in the eastern part of the Appalachian region and becomes much more frequent in the Cumberland and Interior Low plateaus, extending westward into the Ozarks and Ouachitas. It is disjunct in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin in Iowa County (M. G. and R. P. Hanson 1979). It crosses frequently with A. montanum (producing A. × trudellii Wherry), with A. bradleyi (producing A. × gravesii Maxon), with A. platyneuron (producing A. × kentuckiense McCoy), and with A. trichomanes (producing A. × herb-wagneri W. C. Taylor & Mohlenbrock).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
In the flora Asplenium auritum is evidently confined to Florida, where it is rare, occurring primarily on live oaks (Quercus virginiana Miller). The species is highly variable. Juvenile plants, less than 2 cm, tend to be 2-pinnate. In mature plants all stages between 1-pinnate and 2-pinnate leaves are found, but 1-pinnate are more common.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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