Asplenium, Adiantum & Dryopteris
A dead plant
Amongst bamboo on Green Mountain
This planted specimen appear quite different to those
in the wild.
The sori show that this is Pteris
Endemic Plants
| Asplenium ascensionis. (Spleenwort) Fairly common on the cinder banks on the tracks round Green Mountain often with Adiantum capillus-veneris (Maidenhair fern) and ?Dryopteris sp. Lower risk. | Asplenium, Adiantum & Dryopteris |
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| Euphorbia origanoides. (Ascension spurge) Grows on South Gannet Hill, but this is air force territory and out of bounds. I didn't find any on the track down to Mars Bay, but did find some plants (mostly dead) above the car park to Wideawake fairs. Endangered. | A dead plant |
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| Marattia purpurascens. A few grown in the bamboo at the top of Green Mountain, but it is quite common on some of the paths. Lower risk. | Amongst bamboo on Green Mountain |
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| Pteris adscensionis. Planted specimens are easy to find on the path up to the Dew Pond on Green Mountain. In the wild, I couldn't find those in Cricket Valley, but with some help found the plants in Breakneck Valley. They are not immediately obvious and at first glance may be confused with the common ferns that grow everywhere on the mountain. Critically endangered, with perhaps 200 surviving in the wild. |
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| Sporobolus caespitosus. A grass that grows on exposed cinder banks. I found a few specimens near Windy Corner on Elliot's Path. Endangered. | |
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| Xiphopteris ascensionense. This grows on the mosses on bamboos at the top of Green Mountain. It is quite small and may not be immediately obvious. Lower risk. | |
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Other plants
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| Agave sp | Alpinia speciosa (Shell ginger) |
Alternanthera
pungens (Khaki weed) |
Amaryllis belladonna (Belladonna lily) |
Araucaria excelsa (Norfolk island pine - seedling ) |
Argemone mexicana (Mexican thistle) |
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| Asclepias curassavica (Milkweed) |
Begonia hirtella (Begonia) |
Bidens pilosa (Tropical bur-marigold) |
Canna indica (Canna lily) |
Carica papaya (Pawpaw) |
Commicarpus sp (Hogweed) |
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| Euphorbia hirta (Pill spurge) |
Euphorbia prostrata (Prostrate spurge) |
Fumaria
capreolata (White ramping fumitory) |
Gnaphalium sp (Cudweed) |
Guaiacum officinale (Lignum vitae) |
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| Heliotropoium sp |
Hypoxis angustifolia (Star grass) |
Ipomoea pes-caprae (Camel's foot creeper) |
Kalanchoe pinnata (Life-plant) |
Kalanchoe tubiflora | |
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| Leonurus sibiricus | Lycopodium cernum (Buckshorn) |
Lythrum portula
? (Water-purslane) |
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| Melinis minutiflora (Molasses grass) |
Mirabilis jalapa (Four o'clock) |
Musa sp (Banana) |
Nephrolepis hisutula (Sword fern) |
Nicandra physalodes (Apple of Peru) |
Nicotiana glauca (Tree tobacco) |
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| Nymphaea capensis (Blue water-lily) |
Opuntia vulgaris (Prickly pear) |
Oxalis corniculata (Yellow wood sorrel) |
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| Pandanus utilis (Screw pine) |
Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry) |
Platycerium alicorne (Elkhorn fern) |
Platycerium alicorne (Elkhorn fern) |
Psilotum nudum (Skeleton fork fern) |
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| Senna occidentalis (Coffee senna) |
Sida cordifolia (Country mallow) |
Solanum sodomaeum (Sodom apple) |
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| Thunbergia grandiflora (Bengal trumpet) |
Wahlenbergia procumbens (Bellflower) |
(Liverwort) | Unknown plant(?brassica sp) on Sisters |
Miscellaneous
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| Ladybird | Diadem butterfly (Hypolimnas misippus) | Land crab (Gecarcinus lagostoma) |
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) laying eggs | Turtle hatchlings | |
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| The Plough | Orion setting over cross hill. |
| Copyright Jonathan Shanklin |
Updated 2006 May 16 |
