''Asplenium majoricum'' is a tiny fern endemic to

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

(

Serra de Tramuntana The Serra de Tramuntana (, es, Sierra de Tramontana) is a mountain range running southwest–northeast which forms the northern backbone of the Spanish island of Mallorca. It is also the name given to the comarca of the same area. On 27 June 201 ...

), and some locations in Valencia and south of Catalonia, Spain. It belongs to the family

Aspleniaceae The Aspleniaceae (spleenworts) are a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales. The composition and classification of the family have been subject to considerable changes. In particular, there is a narrow circumscription, Aspleniaceae ...

. This allotetraploid hybrid (2n = 144 chromosomes) is the result of crossbreeding between the diploid ferns ''

Asplenium fontanum ''Asplenium fontanum'', commonly known as fountain spleenwort or smooth rock spleenwort, is a species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae, native to rocky areas in Western Europe. Description ''Asplenium fontanum'' is a rhizomatous fern with fro ...

'' subsp. ''fontanum'' (2n = 72 chromosomes) and ''

Asplenium petrarchae ''Asplenium petrarchae'' is a tiny fern of the family Aspleniaceae. Its fronds are densely pubescent-glandular with length between 5 and 14 cm. Petiole less than the sheet of dark brown and shiny. Sores along the central line of the pinnae ...

'' subsp. ''bivalens'' (2n = 72 chromosomes), followed by the spontaneous doubling of the number of chromosomes. Its fronds measure between 6 and . The sori are longer than they are wide, with a side indusie, and are located near the central line of the pinnae. Sporulation occurs from March to November.

Habitat

This small fern lives among the stones of the walls of the terraces and in the crevices of limestone rocks oriented North and Northwest. It likes light but not direct sun. In the dry summer months enters in estivation (summer sleep), dehydrating the fronds until apparently dead. With the first rains of autumn, the fronds will rehydrate in less than 24 hours and turn green as if nothing had happened. A few days starting to sprout new fronds. Stops in the middle of winter to spring, restarting sprouting in the spring.

Hybrids

*''Asplenium × reichsteinii'': hybrid between ''Asplenium majoricum'' and its parent ''Asplenium fontanum'' subsp. ''fontanum''. *''Asplenium × orellii'': hybrid between ''Asplenium majoricum'' and ''Asplenium trichomanes'' subsp. ''quadrivalens''. *''Asplenium × sollerense'': hybrid between ''Asplenium majoricum'' and ''Asplenium petrarchae'' subsp. ''petrarchae''. *''Asplenium × barrancense'': hybrid between ''Asplenium majoricum'' and ''

Asplenium ceterach ''Asplenium ceterach'' ( syn. ''Ceterach officinarum'') is a fern species commonly known as rustyback. Description It is characterised by a short rhizome which gives rise to several green fronds that have a pinnated lamina with trichomes on the ...

'' subsp. ''ceterach''.

References

Description of ''Asplenium majoricum''
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091221173228/http://bdb.cth.gva.es/ficha.asp?id=10724 ''Asplenium majoricum'' in the book "Helechos de la Comunidad Valenciana"br>Study of ''Asplenium majoricum''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4808137 majoricum Flora of Spain Hybrid plants