8

The plant was purchased from the Government Plant Nursery in Bryant Park, Kodaikanal town, in Tamil Nadu, India about 1 to 2 years ago. Since the Tamil language is very different and the in-charge gardener did not speak English, I asked for a tree fern via sign language pointing to the cyathea next to me which is endemic to the region. I bought this plant as a sapling then, at which stage I could not tell much. After confirming again with pointing to the real cyathea next to us, I bought it and brought it back to Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It's grown since then and it's spreading in the base of the pot. So I'm sure it's not a cyathea/tree fern. But it's unlike anything here in Mumbai. What specific type of fern is it?

Note:The fronds are max 1 to 1.5 feet long. The cut frond in the photo is something a bird broke off. I don't like cutting it's beautiful green foliage :)

Photos: enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

spinge
  • 363
  • 2
  • 7

1 Answers1

1

It looks quite similar to the Marginal Wood Fern, Dryopteris marginalis - especially when looking at the prominence and linear distribution of the sori on the edges of the leaves. All of the sources I looked at show only a North American distribution. (Sorry, I am too new to G&L to include more than one link in this post. My second source was: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopteris_marginalis)

Could it be a relative? Or has the world really become that small botanically?

[NewEnglandWild.org]

Laurent R.
  • 111
  • 3