Athyrium asplenioides
| Athyrium asplenioides | |
|---|---|
| |
| Athyrium asplenioides taken by Gil Nelson | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Tracheophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Family: | Athyriacae (Woodsiaceae) |
| Genus: | Athyrium |
| Species: | A. asplenioides |
| Binomial name | |
| Athyrium asplenioides (Michaux) A.A. Eaton | |
| |
| Natural range of Athyrium asplenioides from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Contents
Taxonomic notes
Synonym names: Athyrium filix-femina (Linnaeus) Roth ex Mertens var. asplenioides (Michaux) Farell.
Athyrium filix-femnia ssp. asplenioides (Michaux) Hultén.
Common name: Southern Lady Fern
Kelloff (2005) explains the taxonomic differences of Athyrium filix-femina with overlapping ranges in North America and on other continents. According to Kelloff (2005), the two eastern North American Athyrium species, A. angustum and A. asplenioides, both have characteristics that separate them into their own taxa, such as spore color and surface texture.
As stated by Edwin Bridges (02/18/2016), "If you believe that there is only one widespread species in multiple continents, then the earliest name is Athyrium filix-femina, so that is the name you would use. If instead, you believe that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that there are several species in this group, then you split it into several different species, and of those, the narrowly defined A. filix-femina (what some call A. filix-femina var. filix-femina) is not in North America.
