Asplenium resiliens Kunze

Black Stem Spleenwort; Little Ebony Spleenwort

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Black Stem Spleenwort is a native perennial evergreen fern in the Spleenwort family (Aspleniaceae). It can be found in the northern third of Alabama and in the central-south part of the state. Black Stem Spleenwort grows on cliffs, in ravines, around sinkholes, and near caves in small pockets of soil on limestone or basic rocks. It is a perennial with a fibrous root system. The fronds (leaves) are erect, linear to lanceolate in outline, and once pinnate. The leaves are monomorphic (not differing in shape or size between sterile and fertile leaves). The petiole and rachis are black, glabrous, and shiny. There are 20-40 pairs of opposite (or nearly so) pinnae. The pinnae are oblong in outline with entire or slightly crenate margins. Black Stem Spleenwort reproduces by forming spores. The spores are in sporangia that are grouped into clusters known as sori. There are 2-5 pairs of sori on the underside of each fertile pinnae. The sori have an indusium (a flap of tissue along one side that partially covers the sori). Black Stem Spleenwort is apogamous. This is a type of reproduction in which the sporophyte develops directly from the gametophyte without fusion of gametes. It is believed that this is an adaptation to the dry habitats in which this species occurs.--A. Diamond

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Native

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