Common Name: Chinese Brake Fern
Vernacular Name: ബ്രേക്ക് ഫേൺ
Systematic position:
Class- Polypodiopsida
Order- Polypodiales
Family- Pteridaceae
Genus- Pteris
Species- P. vitatta
Description: Low-growing fern that forms small clumps, rhizome short and scaly. Dark green fronds are pinnate, with pairs of pinnae (the small leaflet-like structure) lining a single axis. The fronds are odd pinnate, with the terminal pinna longer than the adjacent pinna.
Flowering and Fruiting: All year.
Economic Importance: Ethnomedicinally, Pteris vittata is used for wound healing. This fern is arsenic hyper-accumulator but its therapeutic aspect is still unexplored.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteris_vittata