Species library › Asplenium › Asplenium azoricum
Ferns Well documented

Asplenium azoricum

A small, tufted rock fern found only in the Azores. It is an allotetraploid of hybrid origin between the Macaronesian Asplenium anceps and a member of the A. trichomanes complex. It looks like a maidenhair spleenwort with leathery, almost plastic-like pinnae on a glossy, dark garnet rachis, and it grows in the crevices of volcanic rock and old terrace walls, usually on shaded north- to north-west-facing faces. It needs a mild, humid, frost-free oceanic climate, not tropical heat.

Asplenium azoricum
Photo: Juan Bibiloni, CC BY 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
No rest periodGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows among the stones of terrace walls and in crevices of volcanic rock, mostly on faces oriented north to north-west. The roots sit in a thin layer of moss, lichen and grit in the crevice. Plants in more sun develop thicker, more leathery fronds.

Many observations come from lowland villages and farmland (Graciosa, Santa Maria, Pico), so it is common near sea level. Exact elevations are not given in the sources we read.

Azores (all nine islands)

🔒 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 3.0 licence, unmodified.