Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Houseplants >> Plants for Details >> Ferns

Shining Spleenwort (Asplenium oblongifolium)

Shining Spleenwort
Frond detail
Glossy fronds

Overview

Shining Spleenwort (Asplenium oblongifolium) is a New Zealand fern with large, glossy, oblong fronds that give a tropical appearance. It is a common understory plant in native forests.

Taxonomy

Family:	Aspleniaceae
Genus:	Asplenium (ass-PLEE-nee-um)
Species:	oblongifolium (ob-long-ee-FOH-lee-um)
Synonym:	Asplenium lucidum

Description

Fronds are 50–100 cm long, pinnate, with oblong, leathery, highly glossy pinnae. The stipe is grooved, green. Sori are linear along the veins. Forms a substantial clump.

Habitat and Cultivation

Native to New Zealand forests. Prefers moist, well-drained soil in shade. Tolerates light frost. Excellent for subtropical gardens and as a foliage plant.

Ferns: Winged Sumac (Rhus copallina): Native Shrub with Fiery Fall Color; Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron): Petite, Evergreen Fern for Rocky Shade; Mother Fern (Asplenium viviparum): Fern That Grows Baby Plantlets on Its Fronds; Asplenium trichomanes: Maidenhair Spleenwort; Asplenium aethiopicum: Shredded Spleenwort; Lemmaphyllum microphyllum; Huperzia gnidioides (Fir Clubmoss); Weeping Spleenwort (Asplenium flaccidum); Sickle Spleenwort (Asplenium polyodon); Rustyback Fern (Asplenium ceterach)

Garden Articles

Identifying a Lowe's Butterwort—Almost Certainly P. primuliflora

Niphidium crassifolium: Epiphytic Strap Fern for Tropical Collections

Japanese Brake Fern (Pteris nipponica): Elegant Variegated Fern for Shade

Plants

Aloe dorotheae: A Low-Growing, Copper-Red Aloe for Colorful Groundcover

Rhipsalis micrantha (Mistletoe Cactus)

Kalanchoe hildebrandtii: A Silvery, Shrubby Succulent

Anacampseros rufescens: A Purple-Leaved, Caudiciform Succulent

Echeveria nodulosa: The Painted Echeveria

Aloinopsis rubrolineata: A Tiny, Red-Lined Mesemb

Opuntia scheeri: A Shrubby, Red-Flowered Prickly Pear