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   19 Mar 2024      ()
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Asplenium sagittatum   (Mule's Fern)


Asplenium sagittatum  (ASPLENIACEAE.) 
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.

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Profile Date Mar-2009 (taxon update: none)
Citation for this page Mifsud, S. (2022). Asplenium sagittatum - datasheet created on Mar-2009. Retrieved from MaltaWildPlants.com on 19-Mar-2024

Nomenclature and Basic Information

Species name :

Asplenium sagittatum(DC.) Bange
Published in Bull. Soc. Linn. Lyon 21: 84 (1952)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Phyllitis sagittata (DC.in Lam. & DC.) Guinea & Heywood
Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life] [Worldplants.de]

Plant Family :

Aspleniaceae Newman (The Spleenwort Family)
4 species from the Aspleniaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Mule's Fern

Maltese name(s) :

Felċi tal-bir

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common    Frequent     Scarce     Rare    Very rare    Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: CHAMEOPHYTE ( dwarf or small woody shrubs )
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection :

Protected by law: Schedule VI of [S.L. 549.44] (strictly protected species)

Red List (1989) :

Threatened status for the Maltese Islands and has been listed in the Red Data Book (1st ed.)

Flowering Time :

All year

Colour of Flowers:

Inconspicuous

Toxicity:

Not particularly toxic

Name Derivation :

Asplenium: An old name given by Dioscorides (40 - 90 AD) to a group of ferns commonly known as Spleenworts which were used to treat diseases of the spleen (=splenium). However, Asplenium literally means without a spleen! (Greek origin )
sagittatum:

Planting in rural areas :

Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines


Description, Habitat and Distribution
Habitat in Europe: Moist, shady calcareous rocks
Preferred habitat in Malta: In moist scree, caves and rock fissures, also reported in the past on shaded walls and inside wells or caves.
Botanical Description: Leaves 12-30 cm, tufted, persistent; petiole ½ as long as or equalling the lamina; lamina oblong-lanceolate, deeply cordate and auricled at the base; auricles of young leaves rounded, those of mature leaves triangular, more or less lobed, sometimes projecting horizontally for 3-4 cm and leaves then hastate. Sori elliptical, shorter and wider than in 29.
Chromosome number: 2n=72
Distributional range: Mediterranean region

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):
Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):
the Balaeric Islands, Corse, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019)
  Country codes  
? Ag Bl(I M N) Co -Cr Ct Ga(F) Gr Hs Ir It Le Li Ma Sa Si(M S) Sy Tn Tu(A)

Links & Further literature (4 papers)

Google Web

Google Images

Google Scholar

Research Gate

Wikipedia

JSTOR

GBIF

Med Checklist

Cat. of Life

EoL

IPNI

World Flora Online

Plants of the World Online

Vienna Virt. Herb.

RBGE Herbarium

KEW Herbarium

MNHN

Arkive

IUCN

CABI
Update on Maltese Flora (Central Mediterranean) including very rare species or species thought to be extinct from the Maltese islands Stephen Mifsud  (2010)
Current status of Asplenium sagittatum (Aspleniaceae) in the Maltese Islands Stephen Mifsud, Mark Napier, S. Fenech & Louis F. Cassar  (2016)
Rediscovery of Asplenium sagittatum and A. marinum (Pteridophyta: Aspleniaceae) in the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean Sdravko Vesselinov Lalov, Alena Seginkova & Joe Sultana  (2008)
Rediscovery of Asplenium sagittatum and A. marinum (Pteridophyta: Aspleniaceae) in the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean Sdravko Vesselinov Lalov, Alena Seginkova & Joe Sultana  (2008)
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.

Species Images (11 images)
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-0.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-1.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-2.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-3.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-4.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-5.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-6.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-7.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-8.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-9.
   Asplenium sagittatum   -   Image Code: ASLSG-10.

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