Spleenworts Asplenium

Five of the six assessed Asplenium members received a fire-resistant rating, while the remaining member was assessed without the source taking a side.

The favorable pattern is consistent among the named species. Mother spleenwort is rated fire resistant on a handful of assessments, including one that classified its flammability as very low. Weeping spleenwort and shining spleenwort are each rated fire resistant on a single listing, and each also received a very low flammability classification. Asplenium obtusatum likewise carries a fire-resistant rating and the same very low classification.

That is reassuring, but the evidence is uneven. Mother spleenwort has more support than the species represented by one listing, and the sixth assessed member cannot be placed on either side because its source gave no verdict. That silence does not make it resistant or hazardous.

Spleenworts are perennial members of the Aspleniaceae family. Taken together, their own assessments lean clearly toward fire resistance, especially for the named species with favorable findings. The genus name alone, however, should not substitute for checking the particular species under consideration.