Canary Flora > Wild species
Adiantum pusillum
Adiantum reniforme L. ssp. pusillum (Bolle) Rivas-Mart.
Familia
ADIANTACEAE
Tostonera, Hierba tostonera, Ombliguillo, Culantrillo
This strange little fern, about 5–15 cm tall, owes its common name to the resemblance of its leaves to the ‘tostón’, an old colonial coin widely used in Spain and the Americas during the 16th century.
Its fronds emerge from small, scaly, brown glomerules, anchored to the ground by numerous fasciculated roots. The leaves have a simple blade, about 2–3 cm in diameter, an almost circular shape and a deep green colour, with fine, fan-shaped (flabellate) venation that further emphasises their glossy, satiny surface. They are supported by a long, slender black stipite, which turns dark brown as they age.
The spores, measuring between 1 and 4 mm, are semi-circular in shape and are arranged along the edge of the leaves, forming a delicate border that completes their distinctive morphology; when they mature, they open outwards, releasing thousands of microscopic spores.
Endemic to the Canary Islands (found on El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria) and Madeira.
It grows in shady, damp areas, clinging to vertical rock faces, fissures, crevices and slopes.
El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria
Tostonera, Hierba tostonera, Ombliguillo, Culantrillo
This strange little fern, about 5–15 cm tall, owes its common name to the resemblance of its leaves to the ‘tostón’, an old colonial coin widely used in Spain and the Americas during the 16th century.
Its fronds emerge from small, scaly, brown glomerules, anchored to the ground by numerous fasciculated roots. The leaves have a simple blade, about 2–3 cm in diameter, an almost circular shape and a deep green colour, with fine, fan-shaped (flabellate) venation that further emphasises their glossy, satiny surface. They are supported by a long, slender black stipite, which turns dark brown as they age.
The spores, measuring between 1 and 4 mm, are semi-circular in shape and are arranged along the edge of the leaves, forming a delicate border that completes their distinctive morphology; when they mature, they open outwards, releasing thousands of microscopic spores.
Endemic to the Canary Islands (found on El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria) and Madeira.
It grows in shady, damp areas, clinging to vertical rock faces, fissures, crevices and slopes.
El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria
