Common name: Spleenwort
Family: Aspleniaceae
Height x width: 6-20" x 8-24"
Growth rate: moderate
Fronds: simple or pinnate varying with species
Sori: usually single along veins
Hardiness: variable with species
Soil: on dry side, alkaline
Light: filtered sun or part shade
Pests and Problems: scales (more indoors), rots from excessive wetness
Landscape habit, uses: woodland, rock gardens especially for dwarf species, front of borders in part shade; fine textured except for the coarse textured scolopendrium
Other interest: name used by Dioscorides from the Greek splen meaning spleen, refering to its supposed medicinal properties; native to the tropics and subtropics
Other culture: most species favor alkaline rocky sites except scolopendrium which favors a terrestrial woodland
Propagation: division, spores
Species:
One of largest genera of ferns with over 700 species. The following and their cultivars may be found in U.S. commerce with scolopendrium and trichomanes the most popular.
• ebeneum:platyneuron
• ebenoides--Scott's Spleenwort, zones 3-8, 10-20", tolerates high pH, a natural hybrid between playneuron and rhizophyllum, fronds pinnate at base and lanceolate
• platyneuron --Ebony Spleenwort, zones 5-8, 12-20", dark green glossy fronds in herringbone-pattern, frond pinnate and linear to lanceolate
• rhizophyllum--Walking Fern, zones 6-8, greenish to reddish stems to 6", long drawn out fronds lie flat on the ground, rooting at the tips forming linked colonies, fronds simple to pinnate at the base and deltoid to linear-lanceolate
• scolopendrium--Hart's Tongue Fern, may be listed as Phyllitis, zones 5-8, 8-10", fronds simple and lanceolate to strap-shaped, cultivars include:
'Cristatum;--frond divide many times, each division crested
'Laceratum Kaye'--broad frond, narrow irregular lobes
'Undulatum'--frond margins wavy
• trichomanes--Maidenhair Spleenwort, zones 3-8, hardiest of genus, 4-6", dark-stemmed arching fronds pinnate and linear; 'Incisum' prefers alkaline soil, deeply cut pinnae whorl outwards like a starfish
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