Ophioglossum

Ophioglossum
• Systematic Position
Kingdom Plantae
Division Pteridophyta
Class Polypodiopsida
Order Ophioglossales
Family Ophiglossaceae
• Habitat
It is distributed mainly in tropical and temperate regions. They are terrestrial and a few
species are epiphytic i.e they grow on other plants for physical support.
Ophioglossum (Gr: Ophis- snake; glossa- tongue) is a genus which is commonly
known as “adder’s tongue”(it is called so, in reference to the shape of its fertile segments.
These ferns’ fronds consist of a single photosynthetic blade and a fertile stalk ending in sporangia, arising from the leaf stalk.
The blade shows netted venation and may be simple or dichotomously branched in the case of some epiphytic species. The fertile stalk may also show dichotomous branching.
The most unique feature of this genus of ferns is that they show an unexpectedly high
ploidy(number of chromosomes) due to a phenomenon known as polyploidy. O.reticulatum
has the highest recorded chromosome count(1440 chromosomes).
Several species of Ophioglossum are used for antibiotic and anticancer
chemotherapeutic purposes. It also has some local uses as food.
Sources:
o science direct :
o Michael.G.Simpson, Plant Systematics (third edition), 2019 Evolution & Diversity of
Vascular Plants
o N.S Nagalingam, Encyclopaedia of Evolutionary Biology, 2016 Seedless land plants,
Evolution & Diversification
o Britannica
o Picture source- ebps uk