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Species library › Asplenium › Asplenium alternifolium
Ferns Well documented

Asplenium alternifolium

Asplenium × alternifolium is the sterile natural hybrid between forked spleenwort (A. septentrionale) and maidenhair spleenwort (A. trichomanes), found where both parents grow together in crevices of acidic rock across Europe. It needs a cold winter, bright light and a gritty, lime-free crevice; it can only be propagated by division.

Asplenium alternifolium
Photo: Neuchâtel Herbarium, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Crevices of siliceous rock such as granite, gneiss, schist and old dry-stone walls, usually alongside both parents. Roots wedge deep into cracks; the crown sits exposed to bright light and wind.

Recorded from 9 to 2261 m, median 677 m; most records are from upland Massif Central, Vosges, Alps and southern Norway.

FranceSwitzerlandGermanyNorwayAustriaItalyBelgiumCzechiaGreat BritainBalkan PeninsulaCaucasusWest Himalaya

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.