Asplenium bulbiferum

Asplenium bulbiferum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pteridophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Family:	Aspleniaceae
Genus:	Asplenium
Species:	A. bulbiferum
Binomial name
Asplenium bulbiferum G.Forst.

Mother spleenwort, Asplenium bulbiferum, is a fern species native to Australia and New Zealand. It is also called hen and chicken fern and, in the Māori language, pikopiko and mouku. Its fronds are eaten as a vegetable.

Hen and chicken ferns grow small bulbils on top of their fronds. Once grown to about 5 cm (2 in), these offsprings fall off and, provided the soil they land in is kept moist, develop a root system and grow into new ferns. This additional means of reproduction is easier to use for propagation than spores. The related species Asplenium viviparum has a similar mode of reproduction.

The hen and chicken fern commonly grows in most bush areas in New Zealand and is also commercially grown and sold. It thrives in many situations from shade to partial sunlight, and is also suitable and popular as an indoor plant, including areas with low light.

new plantlets forming at the end of the fronds of the Mother Spleenwort

References

• Nutritional value of NZ edible plants: Pikopiko
• Indigenous Maori food ingredients: Pikopiko
• New Zealand Plant Conservation Network: Asplenium bulbiferum