Asplenium flabellifolium,

Common Name:
Shining Spleenwort

Description:
Asplenium flabellifolium, commonly known as the Shining Spleenwort, is a delicate and attractive Australian native fern well-suited to shaded and protected garden settings in Melbourne. It is a ground-hugging or creeping fern with small, glossy, fan-shaped leaflets arranged along slender, wiry fronds. The deep green, shiny foliage gives this fern its common name and makes it a charming addition to shaded rockeries, woodland gardens, ferneries, or as an underplanting for larger ferns and shrubs. It naturally occurs in moist forests and rocky crevices, often scrambling over rocks or logs. In cultivation, it thrives in part to full shade, in humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil. Shining Spleenwort appreciates regular watering during dry periods and can tolerate short dry spells once established. It is evergreen in mild conditions and provides year-round texture with minimal care. This fern is ideal for softening shady corners and brings a fine, naturalistic texture to native gardens.

Form:
*Ground Cover
*Shrub - Clumping / Grass-like / Mounding
*Indoor Foliage Plant (in humid conditions)

Mature Size:
*Height: 10–25 cm
*Width: 30–60 cm (can spread further by creeping)

Aspect:
*Full Shade
*Part Shade

Flowering:
*Does not flower

Flower Colour:
*Not applicable

Key Attributes:
*Australian Native
*Suitable for Pots
*Perennial
*Herbaceous
*Low Maintenance
*Excellent for Shaded Borders and Rockeries
*Suitable for Underplanting
*Not frost tolerant
*Good for Naturalistic and Bush-style Gardens

Toxicity:
*Non-toxic to pets and humans

Companion Plants:
*Blechnum nudum (Fishbone Water Fern)
*Asplenium australasicum (Bird’s Nest Fern)
*Doodia media
*Native violets (Viola hederacea)
*Todea barbara (King Fern)