Drynaria quercifolia

(L.) J.Sm.

Family: Thelypteridaceae

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Polypodiopsida > Polypodiales > Polypodiaceae > Drynaria > D. quercifolia

Common name [English]: Oak leaf basket fern, Oak leaf- fern

Vernacular name [Malayalam]: മതിൽപന

Nativity: Hainan to Tropical Asia and N. Australia.

Habitat: Growing in all vegetation types from coastal plains to forests.

Description: Epiphytes or lithophytes with creeping, branched, densely scaly rhizome, 0.5-1.5 m long, 5-10 cm thick. Scales 10-12 x 1-2 mm, dark brown, linear or lanceolate, acuminate, fimbriate subpeltate. Fronds dimorphic; sterile bracket fronds 30-40 x 25-30 cm, simple; stipe 1-3 cm long, thick; lamina elliptic in outline; cordate at base, lobed; lobes 3-6 x 2-3 cm, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or rounded; thick coriaceous; costa and primary veins thick, raised above and below; veinlets copiously anastomosing, raised above and below; fertile fronds 60-80 x 40-50 cm, simply pinnate; stipe 12-15 x 0.5-0.8 cm, grooved above, rounded beneath; lamina broadly elliptic in outline; pinnae 20-25 x 3-4 cm, linear or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, margins usually wavy; costa, costules and veinlets raised above and below, anastomosing. Sori 1-1.5 mm in diameter, dark brown, many on vein endings. Sporangial capsule 312 x 250 µm, subglobose, stalk 500-625 µm long. Spores 50 x 37.5 µm, brown, ellipsoid with spinous perine.

Flowering and Fruiting:

Uses: Ayurveda, Folk medicine

Cultivation:

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org