Fern Morphology

Systematic position

Kingdom : Plant

Sub-kingdom : Cryptogams

Division : Pteridophyta

Type : fern (Drgopteris)

Habit and Habitat

Ferns grow in cool, shady and moist places. They are cosmopolitan (universal) in distribution.

Morphology (out-look)

• Fern consists of feathery leaves.
• The plant body is differentiated into roots, stem and leaves. The roots and stem are underground and only the leaves are aerial.
• Fern plant is classified under Pteridophyta division because they contain feathery leaves.
• Roots are generally called rhizoid. They absorb water and mineral from thesoil.
• The stem is underground. It is covered by brown-hairy structures. These structures are called raiment (young leafs).
• The leaves are called fronds. Each leaf contains thelarge number of dark-brown structures under the surface. These are called sori (singular: sorus).

Fern plant in diagram:-

The leaves which contain sori are called sporophyll and the leaves which do not contain sori are called tropophyll.