plants spread by spores rather than seeds. Pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes) are free-sporing vascular plants that have a life cycle with alternating, free-living gametophyte and sporophyte phases that are independent at maturity. The body of the sporophyte is well differentiated into roots, stem and leaves. The root systems is always adventitious. Pteridophytes are plants that do not have any flowers or seeds. Hence another name for it is Cryptogams.

1. Economic importance of
Pteridophytes
Arooj Zoolgist

2. Used as a food
• Azolla has also been used as food supplement in fresh or
dried or silage form for a variety of animals including pigs,
cattle, rabbits, ducks, chicken and fish (Ahluwalia et al,
2002).
• The young shoots of Lygodium flexuosum, a common
climbing fern species, are used as vegetables.
• Erect sword fern (Polystichum munitum) or licorice fern
(Polypodium glycyrrhiza) rhizomes are roasted and steamed
to eat.
• Fiddleheads of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris),
cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) and vegetable fern
(Diplazium esculentum) are the varieties eaten.

3. Medicine
• The leaf and root decoction Adiantum philippense has been
found to be very effective in the treatment of chest
complaints (Nair, 1959; Rout et al, 2009).
• Rhizomes and petioles of Dryopteris yield an antihelminthic
drug.
• The decoction of rhizome and fronds of (Pteridium revolutum
syn. P. Aquilinum) is given in chronic disorder spleen.
• whereas the rhizome of Lygodium flexuosum is boiled with
mustard oil and locally applied in rheumatism, sprains,
scabies, ulcers, eczema and cuts.

4. Medicinally important ferns and fern allies in Kolli Hills, India

5. Commercial and environmental use
• Azolla pinnata has a symbiotic association with
nitrogen-fixing, blue-green algae namely – Anabaena
azollae Strasburger.
• Due to this property, the agronomic potential of Azolla
as biofertilizer for rice has been recognized in many
countries including India, Philippines, USA, Sri Lanka
and Thailand (Ahluwalia et al, 2002).
• It has been also found that by applying Azolla the soil
fertility is improved by increasing total nitrogen,
available organic carbon, phosphorous and potassium
(Mandal et al, 1999; Sharma et al, 1999)

6. Commercial and environmental Use
• Other uses of Azolla include hydrogen
production, biogas production, as an
ingredient in soap production.
• The ferns have also shown to be having an
important role in bioremediation of
wastewater. Ma et al. (2001) found the
Chinese Bracken fern namely Pteris vittata L.
to be a hyperaccumulator of the toxic metal
arsenic.

7. Ornamental value
• Ferns are grown as ornamental plants in gardens
and homes for their attractive foliage.
• Ferns like Asplenium sp., Selaginella sp.,
Lygodium sp., Pteris sp., etc. are also grown in the
gardens or in the pots.
• Many nurseries grow these ferns and sell them
off for a good price and these ferns are then used
as ornamentals either as garden plants or during
functions to beautify the place.

8. Fossil Fuels
• Ferns are economically important in an
indirect way. Ferns were the dominant plant in
the landscape many millions of years ago.
When they died, they formed a thick layer of
foliage and detritus, along with other trees
and foliage. These layers now are deep
underground, and have been subjected to
heat and pressure for millions of years,
eventually becoming coal, which has
tremendous economic importance.

9. Ecological Significance
• Pteridophyte species richness in Andean forests
in Bolivia
• One study suggested the distribution of
Pteridophyte species richness on the eastern
Andean slope in Bolivia based on 676 study plots
of 400 m2 each in forest habitats at 65 study sites.
In total 755 species were recorded, including
epiphytes and terrestrials (Kessler, 2001)

10. Horticulture aspect
• Pteridophytes are used in the horticulture.
The different species of Selaginella are grown
as the garden plants. Ruhmora adiantiformis is
called the florist’s fern; since their leaf resists
wilting they are used in the cut flower
arrangements.

11. Other uses
• Some of the ferns are used in
handicrafts; petioles of certain ferns are used for
making basketry and bracelets.
Pteridium leaves are used for making the green
dye.
Club mosses are used as a dry industrial
lubricant since its microscopic spore
contains non-volatile oils. The spores are also
used as flash powder in photography and also
as finger print powder in forensic investigation.