Editing Asplenium (section)

==Uses==
Both the scientific name and the common name "spleenwort" are derived from an old belief, based on the [[doctrine of signatures]], that the fern was useful for ailments of the [[spleen]],<ref name=GL>{{cite book |author1=Bill Neal |title=Gardener's Latin |date=1992 |publisher=[[Robert Hale (publishers)|Robert Hale]] |location=London |isbn=0709051069 |page=12}}</ref> due to the spleen-shaped [[sorus|sori]] on the backs of the [[frond]]s. "-wort" is an ancient English term that simply means "[[plant]]" (compare [[German (language)|German]] ''-wurz''). The plants were thought to cause [[infertility]] in women.<ref name=GL />

[[Vitruvius]] relates the story of the name thus:

<blockquote>... certain pastures in Crete, on each side of the river Pothereus, which separates the two Cretan states of Gnosus and Gortyna. There are cattle at pasture on the right and left banks of that river, but while the cattle that feed near Gnosus have the usual spleen, those on the other side near Gortyna have no perceptible spleen. On investigating the subject, physicians discovered on this side a kind of herb which the cattle chew and thus make their spleen small. The herb is therefore gathered and used as a medicine for the cure of splenetic people. The Cretans call it ἄσπληνον.
{{cite wikisource|chapter=Book I|wslink=Ten Books on Architecture|plaintitle=Ten Books on Architecture|last=|first=|year=|publisher=|page=|wspage=|scan=}} </blockquote>

A few of these ferns have some economic importance in the [[horticulture]] trade. The [[bird's-nest fern]]s (''[[Asplenium nidus|A. nidus]]'' and several very similar, closely related species) are commonly found for sale as a [[house plant]]. The Australian [[mother spleenwort]] (''A. bulbiferum'') is sometimes available at [[greenhouse]]s, and is of interest, along with the related ''[[Asplenium viviparum|A. viviparum]]'', for the many small bulblets borne on the fronds that may grow into new plants. This characteristic is also shared with the eastern North American [[walking fern]] (''A. rhizophyllum'') and several Mexican species including ''[[Asplenium palmeri|A. palmeri]]''. The [[ebony spleenwort]] ''A. platyneuron'' is also sometimes sold in nurseries as a hardy plant. However, many spleenworts are epipetric or [[Epiphyte|epiphytic]] and difficult to cultivate.

''Asplenium'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including ''[[Batrachedra bedelliella]]'' which feeds exclusively on ''A. nidus''. For diseases of ''Asplenium'', see [[List of foliage plant diseases (Polypodiaceae)]].