• Family : PTERIDACEAE
  (MAIDENHAIR FERN FAMILY)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : PTERIDACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Pteris cretica L.
• Habit : Herb-Terrestrial
• Comments / notes : Grows inside the forests along stream banks
• Key identification features : Rhizome erect, densely covered by ovate-lanceolate scales at the apex. Stipes tufted, abaxially rounded, adaxially grooved, glabrous and glossy. Lamina ovate, simply pinnate with bipartite or tripartite or simple pinnule shorter than the lateral ones; pinnae upto seven pairs, one or two pairs of basal pinnae forked at their base, shortly stalked, others simple and sessile; pinnae dark green, glabrous above and below, texture coriaceous. Sori linear all along the margin except at the base and distal part of the pinnae; spores dark brown.
• Fertile : Throughout the year
• Collector(s) Name : F. M. Jarrett, C.J.Saldanha
• Collection Nos : FMJ & CJS 17031
• Collection Locality : Kodaikanal
• Distribution :
  • Odisha : Balasore district, Similipal Hills (Mayurbhanj district)
  • Tamil Nadu : Kodaikanal (Dindigul district)
• Native : Hawaii, Old World Tropics
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Fraser-Jenkins, C.R. 2008. Taxonomic revision of Indian subcontinental Pteridophytes; H.O. Saxena and M. Brahmam. 1996. The Flora of Orissa, Vol-4
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Pteris cretica subsp. cretica. Downloaded on 21 November 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)