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Asplenium nidus
Also called Bird's nest fern, Nest Fern
Bird's nest fern is an epiphytic or lithophytic fern with broad, glossy, strap-like fronds that form a central rosette shaped like a nest. It grows best in warm, humid conditions in shade, away from direct sun.
Asplenium nidus is an epiphytic species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae, native to tropical southeastern Asia, eastern Australia, Hawaii (ʻēkaha in Hawaiian), Polynesia, Christmas Island, India, and eastern Africa. It is known by the common names bird's-nest fern (a name shared by some other aspleniums) or simply nest fern.
Asplenium nidus can survive either as an epiphyte or terrestrial plant, but typically grows on organic matter. This fern often lives in palm trees, where it collects water and humus in its leaf-rosette. It thrives in warm, humid areas in partial to full shade. It dislikes direct sunlight and likes to be in full shade on a south facing garden wall when in the southern hemisphere and the north facing in the northern hemisphere.
With a minimum temperature of 10 °C (50 °F), Asplenium nidus is widely cultivated in temperate regions as a houseplant. However, many plants sold as A. nidus are actually the related Asplenium australasicum. Asplenium nidus has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Bird’s Nest Fern · Hen And Chickens · Scott's Spleenwort · Spleenwort · Singlesorus spleenwort · Hart's tonguefern · Maidenhair Spleenwort · Spleenwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Asplenium nidus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
