Asplenium Newman (Aspleniaceae)

Spleenwort

Etymology Greek: a, not + splen, the spleen. A totally confusing reference to the use of spleenwort to cure spleen and liver problems. The name originated with Pliny and Discorides.
Description Rhizome: erect, scales clathrate.
Frond: evergreen, monomorphic or nearly so.
vascular bundles: 2 C-shaped, back to back, uniting to 1 upwards to an X-shape.
Blade: simple to 2-pinnate, commonly with tiny glandular hairs and a few linear scales.
veins free.
Sori: linear, indusium: thin, flap-like, covering sorus during maturation, on one side of the sorus.
Distinctive Characteristics The stained-glass effect on rhizome scales is unique. The linear sorus along veins is characteristic.
Asplenium pteropus, Ecuador
Asplenium pteropus. Sorus covered by an indusium along a vein, one of the diagnostic attributes of the genus. This species is in Ecuador, not a hardy one.
 Robbin Moran
Asplenium
Asplenium. Clathrate scales on the rhizome are universal for the genus, rarely found elsewhere.  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Ĝllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
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