Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort. It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the United States.
Description
This spleenwort has thick, triangular leaf blades up to 10 centimeters long which are divided into several subdivided segments. It is borne on a reddish green petiole and the rachis is shiny and slightly hairy. The undersides of each leaf segment have one or more sori arranged in chains.
Taxonomy
Linnaeus was the first to describe black spleenwort with the binomial Asplenium adiantum-nigrum in his Species Plantarum of 1753.
A chloroplast phylogeny verified the allopolyploid origin of A. adiantum-nigrum, with A. cuneifolium supplying the paternal genome and A. onopteris the maternal genome.
Native distribution
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is native to: Africa Northern and Southern Africa in: - Algeria; Lesotho; Morocco; the provinces of South Africa including Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and Western Cape; and Tunisia. Asia Western Asia and Central Asia in - the Caucasus; Azerbaijan; Cyprus; the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt; Kyrgyzstan; Ciscaucasia and Dagestan in Russia; and Turkey. Europe Albania; Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France (including Corsica); Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy (including Sardinia); the Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal, Romania; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine (including Krym); the United Kingdom; and in the Balkan Peninsula (former Yugoslavia) Macaronesia Macaronesian archipelagoes of: the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands. North America Southwestern United States - Arizona, Colorado, and Utah Oceania Hawaii In Hawaii, this native fern grows on cinder cones and lava flows, and it is present in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.