Asplenium ceterachL.

WFO wfo-0001115841 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Asplenium ceterach, photographed by CorentinD
fig. a CorentinD, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-07 / obs. 204197465
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Andre Hosper
fig. b Andre Hosper, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203300533
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Quentin Groom
fig. c Quentin Groom, CC0 1.0 / obs. 197472568
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Josep Gesti
fig. d Josep Gesti, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 197575966
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by carnifex
fig. e carnifex, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202564089
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Davide Puddu
fig. f Davide Puddu, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196337942
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Piermario Maculan
fig. g Piermario Maculan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 194794658
Asplenium ceterach, photographed by Felicia Seichter
fig. h Felicia Seichter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195338064

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 48 botanical countries

Regions where Asplenium ceterach is native: Algeria, Djibouti, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Sinai, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe AlgeriaDjiboutiLibyaMoroccoTunisiaAfghanistanCyprusIranIraqKazakhstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineSinaiTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanXinjiangPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBelgiumBulgariaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-Europe BalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Asplenium ceterach, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Sinai SIN
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
Xinjiang CHX
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Djibouti DJI
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 2,005 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -4.4 °C 1.7 °C 8.6 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.1 °C 26.2 °C 31.2 °C
Annual rainfall 556 mm 941 mm 1,738 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 16 mm 136 mm 285 mm

It is found where winters bring light frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,005 research-grade observations of Asplenium ceterach that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 36 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Asplenium ceterach subsp. cyprium (Viane & Van den heede) Viane
  • Asplenium cyprium Viane & Van Den Heede
  • Asplenium glandulosoides Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Asplenium javorkeanum Vida
  • Asplenium mantoniae Váróczy & Vida
  • Asplenium parvifolium (Benl & G.Kunkel) Vida & Reichst.
  • Asplenium sinuatum Salisb.
  • Asplenium troodeum Viane & Van den heede
  • Asplenium vulgare Hill
  • Blechnum squamosum Stokes
  • Ceterach aureum var. parvifolium Benl & G.Kunkel
  • Ceterach ceterach Newman
  • Ceterach ceterach (L.) Newman
  • Ceterach javorkeanum (Vida) Soó
  • Ceterach javorkeanum (Vida) Kamelin
  • Ceterach mantoniae (Váróczy & Vida) Soó
  • Ceterach officinarum DC.
  • Ceterach officinarum Willd.
  • Ceterach officinarum subsp. bivalens D.E.Mey.
  • Ceterach officinarum subsp. cyprium (Viane & Van den heede) Marchetti
  • Ceterach officinarum subsp. mantoniae (Váróczy & Vida) Marchetti
  • Ceterach officinarum subsp. troodeum (Viane & Van den heede) Marchetti
  • Ceterach officinarum var. acutum Borbás
  • Ceterach officinarum var. crenatum T.Moore

and 12 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.