''Asplenium nidus'' is an

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Aspleniaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to tropical southeastern Asia, eastern Australia, Hawaii (''ʻēkaha'' in Hawaiian), Polynesia,MacDonald, Elvin "The World Book of House Plants" pp.264 Popular Books Christmas Island, India, and eastern Africa. It is known by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s bird's-nest fern (a name shared by some other aspleniums) or simply nest fern.

Description

''Asplenium nidus'' forms large simple

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s visually similar to

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

leaves, with the fronds growing to long and broad, with occasional individuals up to 6.6 feet (two meters) in length by up to two feet (61 centimeters) width They are light green, often crinkled, with a black midrib, and exhibit circinate vernation.

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s develop in sori on the underside of the fronds. These sori form long rows extending out from the midrib on the back of the outer part of the

lamina Lamina may refer to: People * Saa Emerson Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician * Tamba Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician and diplomat Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathem ...

(frond). The fronds roll back as they brown and create a massive leaf nest in the branches and trunks of trees. The subspecies or variety A.n. taeniophyllum of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

has fronds up to 4ft 5 in (135 centimeters) in length while only 1.5 inches (3.7 centimeters) wide.

Taxonomy

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

was the first to describe bird's-nest fern with the

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms *Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition * ...

''Asplenium nidus'' in his ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'' of 1753. A global phylogeny of ''Asplenium'' published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades, which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study. ''A. nidus'' belongs to the "''Neottopteris'' clade", members of which generally have somewhat leathery leaf tissue. While the subclades of this group are poorly resolved, several of them share a characteristic "bird's-nest fern" morphology with entire leaves and fused veins near the margin. Both the 2020 study and a 2015 molecular study found that ''A. nidus'' is polyphyletic, meaning that some populations were not closely related to others—''A. nidus'' from Madagascar, Vanuatu and New Guinea were more closely related to other species than each other. Hence a revision with sampling of the species across its range was required to delineate the taxon and identify cryptic species. ''A. nidus'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' forms a clade with the morphologically similar '' A. australasicum'', but other bird's-nest ferns such as '' A. antiquum'' and '' A. phyllitidis'' form a separate subclade which is not particularly closely related.

Native distribution

''Asplenium nidus'' is native to east tropical Africa (in Tanzania, inclusive of the

Zanzibar Archipelago Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. The c ...

); temperate and tropical Asia (in Indonesia; East Timor; the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, and the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

of Japan; Malaysia; the Philippines; Taiwan; and Thailand); and in northern Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Habitat

''Asplenium nidus'' can survive either as an

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

terrestrial plant A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on, in or from land. Other types of plants are aquatic plant, aquatic (living in or on water), semiaquatic (living at edge or seasonally in water), epiphyte, epiphytic (living on other plants), and litho ...

, but typically grows on organic matter. This fern often lives in

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

trees, where it collects water and

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

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.

Uses

With a minimum temperature of , ''Asplenium nidus'' is widely cultivated in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions as a

houseplant A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...

. However, many plants sold as ''A. nidus'' are actually the related '' Asplenium australasicum''. ''Asplenium nidus'' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. ''Asplenium nidus'' has been used locally in folk medicine for

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

, sores,

weakness Weakness is a symptom of many different medical conditions. The causes are many and can be divided into conditions that have true or perceived muscle weakness. True muscle weakness is a primary symptom of a variety of skeletal muscle diseases, ...

, and

halitosis Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is a symptom in which a noticeably unpleasant breath odour is present. It can result in anxiety among those affected. It is also associated with depression and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. Th ...

. The sprouts of ''A. nidus'' are eaten in Taiwan, known as 山蘇, pronounced ''shansu''. (山 meaning "mountain", as in mountain vegetables). They may be stir-fried or boiled and are a traditional aboriginal vegetable, now popular enough to appear even on the menus of chain restaurants. The young fronds are eaten in the Polynesian islands, known as ' in

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

, ' in

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

and ' in

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

where it is often cooked together and eaten with coconut cream. The large fronds are also used in the wrapping and cooking of food.R. R. Thaman (2016)
"The Flora of Tuvalu - Pacific Environment Portal."
Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press Retrieved October 2023.

Protection

In Hong Kong, this species is under protection based on Forestry Regulations Cap. 96A.

References

External links

* *

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1736890 nidus Ferns of Africa Ferns of Asia Ferns of Oceania Ferns of Australia Native ferns of Hawaii Flora of Christmas Island Flora of Malesia Flora of Japan Flora of the Ryukyu Islands Flora of Taiwan Flora of Tanzania Flora of the Tubuai Islands Flora of the Zanzibar Archipelago Flora of Thailand Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1753 Epiphytes Polynesian cuisine Niuean cuisine Tuvaluan cuisine Tokelauan cuisine Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Australia House plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus