Smooth Rock-spleenwort (Asplenium fontanum)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > fern > Fern |
| Red List Status: | Extinct (globally) (Not Relevant) [EX(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Asplenium fontanum |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) Bernh. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species has been regionally extinct in England since 1869, when it was last collected at a site near Petersfield (Hampshire). Some former sites may have arisen as escapes from cultivation, while others perhaps arose from chance long-distance spore dispersal from southern Europe (Stroh et al. 2023). Attempts at reintroduction are unlikely to succeed. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Taxon has been extinct for 155 years and attempts at reintroduction are unlikely to succeed, as the ecology of the species is not well understood. Most occurrences are likely to be chance colonisations, and the last known site (in Scotland) was from a wall. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.