Question: Found growing on rock at about 1900 feet in elevation. The area is said to be serpentine rock in the …
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Question
Found growing on rock at about 1900 feet in elevation. The area is said to be serpentine rock in the town of Windham, VT. I found one small colony of the plant. The image I will upload is geotagged
Answer
Dear Frank, your plant is a species of maidenhair spleenwort (genus Asplenium). It is either Asplenium trichomanes (diploid maidenhair spleenwort) or Asplenium quadrivalens (tetraploid maidenhair spleenwort). Separating these two species is very difficult without specimens and magnification (though sometimes substrate is quite accurate). Asplenium trichomanes is usually found on non-calcareous rock (i.e., acidic), while Asplenium quadrivalens is usually found on calcareous rock (i.e., circumneutral to basic). I hope this is helpful.
