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Ferns Well documented

Asplenium pinnatifidum

Lobed spleenwort

A small evergreen rock fern of eastern North America with lobed, tapering fronds. It is a fertile tetraploid thought to derive from a hybrid of walking fern and mountain spleenwort. It lives in crevices of acidic rock, especially sandstone, on steep, shaded faces in the Appalachians, Ozarks and nearby uplands. Grow it cool, in a lean acidic gritty mix in a crevice-like spot, with moderate light and a real winter.

Asplenium pinnatifidum
Photo: Choess, 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 Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows in crevices and on ledges of acidic rock, mainly sandstone, on steep cliffs and boulders, usually in wooded, shaded settings. The roots sit in a thin film of acidic grit and humus in the cracks, which drains instantly but stays damp.

Literature gives sea level to about 1,000 m. The few wild records with an elevation run from 109 to 528 m, with a median of 360 m, on low to mid-elevation uplands.

Eastern United States: middle and southern AppalachiansOzarks and Shawnee HillsSoutheastern OklahomaSouthwestern Wisconsin (disjunct)

🔒 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.