Specimen
Habitat
MP-0004 / 0024 โ Aspleniaceae
Asplenium antiquum Makino
Otaniwatari (JP)
A nest fern whose funnel-shaped rosette builds its own soil in the forest canopy.
Distribution
Southern Japan (southern Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and the Ryukyus), Korea (Jeju), Taiwan and southern China.
Habitat
Humid forests and coastal woodland, growing on tree trunks and rock faces as an epiphyte or lithophyte.
Morphology
A nest fern: a rosette of simple, undivided, lanceolate fronds with a dark midrib and wavy margins, typically 50โ100 cm long. Linear sori lie along the lateral veins on the underside of the frond.
Botanical notes
The funnel-shaped rosette traps falling leaves and forms its own humus pocket, so the plant builds its own soil in the canopy. Several similar nest ferns occur in the Ryukyus, and field identification relies on spore and sorus characters.
References
Taxonomy and distribution follow Plants of the World Online (Kew), YList (Yonekura & Kajita) and regional floras; CITES Species+ for trade status. Descriptions are provisional and are revised as specimens are verified.