Asplenium scolopendriumL.

Hart's tonguefernHart's-tonguehartstonque

WFO wfo-0001110391 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Asplenium scolopendrium, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. a Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205218478

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.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
9590
Filed as
Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum (Fernald) Kartesz & Gandhi
Det. by
W. L. Testo 2014-01-01
Collected
H. M. D. Brownell
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 66 botanical countries

Regions where Asplenium scolopendrium is native: Algeria, Azores, Canary Is., Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Khabarovsk, Korea, Kuril Is., Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Primorye, Sakhalin, Taiwan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Maryland, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ontario, Tennessee AlgeriaLibyaMoroccoTunisiaIranIraqJapanKhabarovskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusPalestinePrimoryeSakhalinTaiwanTranscaucasusTürkiyeYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBelgiumBulgariaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaMarylandMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkOntarioTennessee AzoresCanary Is.MadeiraKoreaBalearesFøroyarSardegna
Native distribution of Asplenium scolopendrium, 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
Denmark DEN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Iran IRN ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iraq IRQ
Japan JAP
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Kuril Is. KUR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Taiwan TAI
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Yakutiya YAK
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Maryland MRY
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Ontario ONT
Tennessee TEN
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Canary Is. CNY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are 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 2,025 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -6.4 °C 1.8 °C 5.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 17.3 °C 20.5 °C 26.3 °C
Annual rainfall 662 mm 984 mm 1,953 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 127 mm 185 mm 371 mm

It is found where winters bring hard 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 2,025 research-grade observations of Asplenium scolopendrium 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 51 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 elongatum Salisb.
  • Asplenium komarovii Akasawa
  • Asplenium lindeni Hook.
  • Asplenium scolopendrium subsp. officinale Ehrh.
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum (Fernald) Reichst., Rasbach & Viane
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum (Fernald) Kartesz & Gandhi
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Reichst., Rasbach & Viane
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. crispum Borkh.
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. lindenii (Hook.) Viane, Rasbach & Reichst.
  • Asplenium scolopendrium var. multifidum Borkh.
  • Biropteris antri-jovis Kümmerle
  • Blechnum linearifolium Stokes
  • Phyllitis antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Seitz
  • Phyllitis fernaldiana Á.Löve
  • Phyllitis japonica Kom.
  • Phyllitis japonica subsp. americana (Fernald) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Phyllitis lindenii Maxon
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium (L.) Newman
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium f. variifolia Hayashi
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium subsp. antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Pic.Serm.
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium subsp. antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Dostál
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium subsp. antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Soó
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium subsp. antri-jovis (Kümmerle) Vida
  • Phyllitis scolopendrium var. americana Fernald

and 27 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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.