Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Small

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Rocky outcrops

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Status

Common

About

This small fern grows in dense tufts within the cracks of shaded rocky cliffs. Its dark central stems are stiff like wire and can hold up to forty pairs of leaflets.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Polypodiopsida

Order

Polypodiales

Family

Aspleniaceae

Genus

Asplenium

Species

Asplenium trichomanes