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Western Ghats reveal world’s smallest land fern
Context
Discovery of world’s smallest land fern
What has happened?
Indian researchers have discovered the world’s smallest land fern hiding in the Ahwa forests of the Western Ghats in Gujarat’s Dang district. The fingernail-sized fern belongs to a group known as the adder’s-tongue ferns, named after their resemblance to a snake’s tongue
Species name: Ophioglossum malviae
Unique features
- A look at the plant’s minuscule seeds (called spores) under a powerful electron microscope revealed it had a unique thick outer layer which similar species lacked
- The plant’s DNA was also found to vary enough from its relatives to call it a new species
- Size: 1 cm
What is a fern?
Ferns are a group of about 20,000 species of plants (of which about 10,000 are living) in the division Pteridophyta. Unlike bryophytes, ferns have xylem and phloem, which makes them vascular plants
