Asplenium trichomanes ssp. trichomanes (Maidenhair spleenwort)

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Asplenium trichomanes L. ssp. trichomanes

Maidenhair spleenwort

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Pteridophyta	Ferns
Class	Filicopsida	“Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns
Order	Polypodiales	Polypod ferns
Family	Aspleniaceae	Spleenworts, a group of ferns
Genus	Asplenium	From Greek a, “without,” and splēn, “spleen”
Species	trichomanes	From Greek tricho, “hairy,” and manes, “flowing”
ssp.	trichomanes	From Greek tricho, “hairy,” and manes, “flowing”

About plant names...

What the heck is a spleenwort? People used to believe that plants that looked vaguely like parts of the body were intended to help heal those parts—the doctrine of signatures. The sori on the backs of the fronds of this plant look spleen-shaped. "Wort" simply means "plant." The Asplenium genus includes about 700 ferns.

From Lindman, Carl Axel Magnus, Bilder ur Nordens Flora, 1926

Identification: The fronds are 3-6" (7.6-15 cm) long, made up of leaves (individual leaves) ¾" (1.9 cm) long. The leaves are shiny.

Online References:

Earl J.S. Rook's Flora, Fauna, Earth, and Sky ... The Natural History of the Northwoods

The Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The Hardy Fern Library

CalPhotos

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

Asplenium trichomanes ssp. trichomanes description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 2½" (9.8 × 6.6 cm) ID is uncertain

8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm) ID is uncertain

8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

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