This is a fairly common spleenwort growing out of walls and banks, but for us in Guernsey it was necessary to look carefully to see the differences between this and A. obovatum (Lanceolate Spleenwort) with which it grows.  It may not always be the case, but the leaves look shinier in Black Spleenwort and the leaflets appear to start further up the petiole than in A obovatum. The most telling feature are the sori (groups of sporangia containing spores) which are in all parts of the underside of the leaflets in A. adiantum-nigrum but at the edges of the leaflets in A. obovatum.

Bank at St Saviours, Guernsey 20th June 2004

Added on November 12th 2004, updated 16th October 2008, updated Feb 27th 2010