English: Bird's-nest fern; Nest fern.
Clades: Aspleniaceae.
Region: tropical southeastern Asia, eastern Australia, Hawaii, Polynesia, Christmas Island, India, eastern Africa.
Region: east tropical Africa, Tanzania, Zanzibar; temperate and tropical Asia, Indonesia; East Timor, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands of Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand; Australasia, Queensland.
Habitat: epiphyte, often in palm trees, where it collects water and humus in its leaf-rosette; grows on organic matter; warm, humid areas; partial to full shade.

BotanyFern; epiphytic.
Leaves: large; simple; leathery; similar to banana leave; 50 to 150 to 200 cm long 10 to 20 cm broad; light green; often crinkled; with a black midrib; exhibit circinate vernation; roll back as they brown and create a massive leaf nest in the branches and trunks of trees.
Sori: long rows extending out from the midrib on the back of the outer part of the lamina.
Spores: develop in sori.

TaxonomyAsplenium nidus belongs to the Neottopteris clade od Aspenium
A. nidus is polyphyletic, meaning that some populations were not closely related to others—A. nidus from Madagascar, Vanuatu and New Guinea were more closely related to other species than each other. Hence a revision with sampling of the species across its range was required to delineate the taxon and identify cryptic species.[14] A. nidus sensu lato forms a clade with the morphologically similar A. australasicum, but other bird's-nest ferns such as A. antiquum and A. phyllitidis form a separate subclade which is not particularly closely related.

in his Species Plantarum of 1753.[10]A global phylogeny of Asplenium published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades,[11] which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study.

Asplenium nidus in Malaysia

A small Asplenium nidus growing on a tree trunk
With a minimum temperature of 10 °C (50 °F), Asplenium nidus is widely cultivated in temperate regions as a houseplant.[16] However, many plants sold in America as A. nidus are actually Asplenium australasicum, which has longer sori, and a differently shaped midrib.[17] Asplenium nidus has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[18]
Asplenium nidus has been used locally in folk medicine for asthma, sores, weakness, and halitosis.[19]
The sprouts of A. nidus are eaten as a vegetable in Taiwan[citation needed] where it is called 山蘇 (pronounced shān sũ) and typically cut into inch-long pieces and sautéed with garlic and chilli peppers.