Asplenium tutwilerae
A small, evergreen, rock-dwelling fern known wild only from Havana Glen and nearby ravines in Hale County, Alabama. It formed when the sterile hybrid of ebony spleenwort and walking fern doubled its chromosomes and became fertile. Much of the fern sold as A. × ebenoides is actually this species. It grows well in a shaded, humid spot on a gritty mix and is hardy outdoors in mild temperate gardens.
Where it grows wild
It grows on moss- and lichen-covered ledges of conglomerate rock, with siliceous pebbles in an iron-rich matrix, in shaded, humid ravines rather than on the forest floor. The roots sit in thin, only slightly acid soil made from weathered rock. The fronds come in two forms: larger upright fertile fronds and smaller sterile fronds that lie flat on the ground.
Low elevation. The single measured site is at about 120 m.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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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.