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ebony spleenwort

ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)
Photos © John Hilty

Features and Behaviors

FEATURES
The ebony spleenwort is a fern. Each of its leaves may attain a length of about 12 inches and be divided into 18 or more pairs of leaflets. Leaves may be erect or growing along the ground. The stipe and rachis are both dark.

BEHAVIORS
The ebony spleenwort may be found in the southern one‐half of Illinois. This fern grows in dry or moist woodlands, fields and along or on walls in well‐drained, rocky soil. The ebony spleenwort produces spores from May through September. It grows in groups of two or three plants or in colonies.

Illinois Range

Taxonomy

​Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pteridophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Aspleniaceae

Illinois Status: common, native