Hen and chicken fern, Mother fern
Asplenium bulbiferum

Family: Aspleniaceae

What it is like

A small fern. It grows 0.5-1.2 m tall. It forms spreading clumps. It can grow in soils or attached to trees and on rotting logs. The fronds are divided 3 times. The fronds are pale or dark green. They grow 20-150 cm long. Small plants grow in the ends of the leaf divisions. Plants vary considerably. The spore bodies are 2-4 mm long and oblong.

There are over 600-700 Asplenium ferns. They are mostly tropical and subtropical. In New Zealand, a species complex with tetraploid and octoploid cytotypes.

Where it is found

It is a warm temperate to subtropical plant. It grows in bush clearings and lowland forests throughout New Zealand. It does best in damp locations. It grows on logs and the trunks of tree ferns. Possibly on Mt Roland. Hobart Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 9-11. Tasmania Herbarium. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Fiji, India, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Polynesia, Tasmania

How it is used for food

The young shoots are eaten. They are steamed. The roots are also eaten.

Edible parts

Leaves, root, fronds

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from the small plantlets growing on the ends of fronds. It can also be grown from spores.

Its other names

Local names

Mauka, Mother spleenwort, Mouka, Pikopiko

Synonyms

Asplenium bullatum Wall. ex Mett.; Asplenium cavalerianum Christ;