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Dennstaedtia speluncae (L.) ined.

Dennstaedtiaceae · Benin, Ghana +87

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

Photographs not checked iNaturalist and GBIF media were skipped (not asked) when this page was built. Not asked, or not answered, is not "none": nothing here claims there is none. Why the site says it this way.
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Sow seed
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
9.4°C
Record low 4.5 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Jun, Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,748mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
22–35DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes May to September, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,813 mm of 2,550 mm) falls in May to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 25.3 °C against a yearly mean of 22.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to March.

Rain

2,550 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,813 mm of it May to September. Wettest month August at 417 mm, driest month December at 53 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,528 mm to 3,916 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,748 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,550 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 35 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 39).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 9.4 °C, the absolute minimum 4.5 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.5 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 13.1 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 9.3 °C to 23.4 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 28.0 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 9.4 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 63 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -464 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Dennstaedtia speluncae through the yearWarmest months June, July and August, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 13.1 °C; 2,550 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.0°5°10°15°20°25°30°35°33.5° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER4.5° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0200400600800mm rainDLI 22–35RH 63–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 163 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C20 / 17–3021 / 18–3123 / 20–3125 / 22–3027 / 24–3028 / 25–2928 / 25–3028 / 25–3027 / 25–2926 / 23–2924 / 21–2921 / 18–29
Night °C13 / 9–2314 / 11–2416 / 13–2519 / 16–2521 / 18–2423 / 19–2523 / 19–2623 / 19–2622 / 18–2520 / 17–2418 / 14–2414 / 11–24
Rain mm57 / 16–21898 / 31–229134 / 60–222184 / 95–252276 / 164–420390 / 137–567384 / 109–646417 / 110–702346 / 152–501146 / 63–31965 / 31–28353 / 16–276
DLI23 / 16–3526 / 19–3731 / 25–3733 / 29–3932 / 30–3633 / 27–3535 / 26–3832 / 25–3630 / 27–3528 / 24–3424 / 19–3422 / 16–33
RH %63 / 57–7064 / 58–7064 / 60–7065 / 62–7166 / 64–7167 / 64–7267 / 64–7268 / 65–7167 / 65–7166 / 62–7165 / 60–7163 / 58–71

Records on both sides of the equator: the 65 cells at least 10° south of it have seasons six months apart and are left out, not combined into a year no place has. These figures are across the 163 cells that remain: the 119 at least 10° north and the 44 within 10° of the equator, which stay in either way.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 163 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (289 records in those cells; 1 more cell holds records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cell is left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1330:6026 (23.475, 121.325). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 4.5 °C, 1st-percentile night 9.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 163 distinct grid cells holding 289 of the 368 in-range records (1 further cell with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out) on the northern side of the equator (119 cells poleward of 10° north, 65 poleward of 10° south: the two sides' seasons are not combined, and cells within 10° of the equator stay in); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1330:6026 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 23.50_121.250, lapse-corrected -464 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 568 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 2650730 (Microlepia speluncae (L.) T.Moore, 1952 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeBenin, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Is., Zaïre, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces, Comoros, Madagascar, Réunion, Seychelles, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Tibet, Kazan-retto, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Christmas I., Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Is., Queensland, Western Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tonga, Vanuatu, Cook Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Hawaii, Cuba, Jamaica, French Guiana, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Paraguay · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker23.564, 120.783 · in the densest population, 257 records (23% of those in range)
Extinct inBermuda · recorded as extinct by WCVP: history, not habitat; no records are tested against these regions
Kew's description“perennial or epiphyte” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1112 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 289 of them in the land cells it reads, of 368 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 863 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 38 km away. 53 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 744 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 2650730 (Microlepia speluncae (L.) T.Moore): Kew's file holds it as Microlepia speluncae (L.) T.Moore (synonym under Dennstaedtia speluncae (L.) ined.); 1,952 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1112 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Not checked. iNaturalist and GBIF media were skipped (not asked) when this page was built. Not a statement that none exist.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Cyperus cyperoides Cyperus cyperoides Pacific island flatsedge Photo: CC BY, Jerome KoDendrocnide meyeniana Dendrocnide meyeniana Urticaceae Photo: CC BY, Yu-Huang WangScutellaria playfairii Scutellaria playfairii Lamiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, vrxzFlemingia macrophylla Flemingia macrophylla Flemingia Photo: CC BY, Cheng-Te HsuGlochidion philippicum Glochidion philippicum Buttonwood Photo: CC BY, 張家瑜Deeringia polysperma Deeringia polysperma Amaranthaceae Photo: CC BY, 謝麗霦

Other Dennstaedtia 15 in the reference

Dennstaedtia bipinnata Dennstaedtia bipinnata Dennstaedtiaceae Photo: CC BY, homeredwardpriceDennstaedtia cicutaria Dennstaedtia cicutaria Tropical hayscented fern Photo: CC BY-SA, Trap HersDennstaedtia davallioides Dennstaedtia davallioides Lacy ground fern Photo: CC BY, Leon PerrieDennstaedtia globulifera Dennstaedtia globulifera Dennstaedtiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, David J. StangDennstaedtia hirsuta Dennstaedtia hirsuta Dennstaedtiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Keisotyo Dennstaedtia hookeriana Dennstaedtiaceae Dennstaedtia marginata Dennstaedtiaceae Dennstaedtia nepalensis Dennstaedtiaceae Dennstaedtia novae-zelandiae Dennstaedtia novae-zelandiae Dennstaedtiaceae Photo: CC BY, Corin Dennstaedtia platyphylla Dennstaedtiaceae Dennstaedtia punctilobula Dennstaedtiaceae Dennstaedtia scandens Dennstaedtia scandens Dennstaedtiaceae Photo: CC BY, Yinling Chen all 16 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Microlepia speluncae; Microlepia mollifolia; Davallia polypodioides; Davallia polypodioides var. subglabra; Davallia polypodioides var. pubescens and 57 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

POWO

The record

Family
Dennstaedtiaceae
Described by
(L.) ined.
Native to
Benin, Ghana, Guinea +86
Wild records
1112 in range · 863 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Dennstaedtia speluncae (L.) ined. (plant_name_id 3321589), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 1952 records of GBIF's key 2650730, Microlepia speluncae (L.) T.Moore (Kew's file holds it as Microlepia speluncae (L.) T.Moore (synonym under Dennstaedtia speluncae (L.) ined.)): the GBIF download; 23 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (11 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium, 11 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 23.50_121.250, lapse-corrected -464 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22no item carries Kew's IPNI identifier none, POWO 3321589-4
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 108 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…