Ascension : Conservation Weekly - Xiphopteris ascensionensis
Submitted by The Islander (Conservation Office) 26.07.2007 (Article Archived on 09.08.2007)

This is plant is considered an endemic species, though it has sometimes been treated as a form of X.trichomaniodes, a widespread tropical species.

Xiphopteris ascensionensis

This is plant is considered an endemic species, though it has sometimes been treated as a form of X.trichomaniodes, a widespread tropical species. It is a fern of the mist zone of the highest part of the mountain. It requires constant moisture and grows very locally in rock crevices and on trees, always amongst moss. It is often associated with the endemic mosses Campylopus smaragdinus and Calymperes ascensionis, which with other mosses have colonised many kinds of introduced trees (including the bamboos on the peak); the fern has benefited from this extension of its habitat