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Life Science Archives (LSA)

ISSN: 2454-1354

Volume – 1; Issue - 2; Year – 2015; Page: 138 - 141

©2015 Published by JPS Scientific Publications Ltd. All rights reserved

Research Article

ROLE OF BOTANIC GARDENS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF SOME

FERN SPECIES

Jaya Vijayan1, V.S. Ramachandran

1 and BinuThomas

2*

1Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046, Tamil Nadu,

India. 2PG Department of Botany, Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad, Kottayam - 686 633, Kerala, India.

Abstract

Botanic gardens maintain collections of live plants mainly for study, for scientific research

conservation or education.These gardens are being opened or developed to act as centers for plant

conservation, study and education, particularly of plants native to their own regions. The present study

highlights the role of botanic gardens for ex-situ conservation of some fern species which are distributed in

the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, India. These include 22 species belonging to 18 genera and 13 families.

Article History Received : 29.03.2015

Revised : 15.04.2015

Accepted : 20.04.2015

Key words: Botanic Gardens, Conservation, Ferns, Ooty and Tamil Nadu.

1. Introduction

Pteridophytes are seedless spore bearing

vascular cryptogams and form a generally much

neglected group of plants (Binu Thomas and

Rajendran, 2012). Moreover, the position of the

Pteridophytes as intermediate between the lower

cryptograms and higher vascular plants has made

the group fascinating. Pteridophytes have a long

geological history on our planet. They were

known as far back as 380 million years ago

(Upreti et al., 2009).

The fern and fern allies are the group of

plants which are less known to many people

although greatly admired many due to their

graceful, fascinating and beautiful foliage

(Yumkham and Singh, 2011.). Besides this some

of them are used for the preparation of various

medicinal formulations by both indigenous and

* Corresponding author: Dr. Binu Thomas

Tel.: +91-9496019377

E-mail: binuthomasct@gmail.com

native people (Priya Ramachandran et al., 2014).

Many fern and fern allies are luxuriantly growing

on the slopes of Western and Eastern Ghats

(Benjamin and Manickam, 2007).

Botanic gardens which maintain

collections of live plants mainly for study, for

scientific research conservation or education.

These gardens are being opened or developed to

act as centers for plant conservation, study and

education, particularly of plants native to their

own regions (Jaya Vijayan et al., 2014a).

2. Methodology

2.1. Study Area: Government Botanic Garden,

Udhagamandalam (Ooty)

The Government Botanical Garden,

Udhagamandalam (Ooty) was established in 1847.

The Garden was divided into several sections,

cover an area of around 22 hectares, and lie on the

lower slopes of Doddabetta peak at 11°24'08.7'' N

and 76°44'12.2'' E. This garden was maintained by

the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department.

Binu Thomas / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume – 1, Issue – 2, Page – 138 - 141, 2015 139

©2015 Published by JPS Scientific Publications Ltd. All rights reserved

It ascends the slopes of the hill at an

elevation of 2250 – 2500 meter above Mean Sea

Level. The garden enjoys a temperate climate,

with an average rainfall of 140 cm, the most of

which is received during South-West monsoon,

with frosty nights from November to February.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are

28 °C and 0 °C respectively (Jaya Vijayan et al.,

2014b).

2.2. Documentation

The present investigation was undertaken

with a view to list out the pteridophytic species

which are conserved in the Government Botanical

Garden, Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Nilgiri District,

Tamilnadu. The correct nomenclature and other

details regarding these species were obtained from

the pteridophytic Floras of Manickam and

Irudayaraj (1992 & 2003).

3. Results and Discussion

The present study highlights the role of

botanic gardens for conserving ecologically and

economically valuable group of plants like

pteridophytes. The result of the present study

reveals that, 22 species of pteridophytes are

belonging to 18 genera and 13 families were

documented from Botanical garden, Ooty (Table -

1). Among these 22 families, Polypodiaceae is the

dominant family in which 4 species (Microsorum

punctatum (L.) Copel, Phlebodium aureum (L.) J.

Sm., Phymatosorus nigrescens (Blume.) Pic. &

Pyrrosia porosa (C. Presl.) Hoven.) followed by

Adiantaceae (Adiantum hispidulum Sw. &

Adiantum raddianum C. Presl.), Blechnaceae

(Blechnum orientale L. & Doodia dives Kunze),

Cheilanthaceae (Cheilanthes bulbosa Kunze &

Cheilanthes swartzii Webb.) Nephrolepidaceae

(Nephrolepis auriculata (L.) Trim. & Nephrolepis

multiflora (Roxb.) Jarret), Hemionitidaceae

(Parahemionitis cordata (Roxb.) Fras. &

Pityrogramma calamelanos (L.) Link) and

Pteridaceae (Pteris argyraea T. Moore & Pteris

cretica L.) are having 2 species each, remaining

families possesses single species each. The

pteridophytes are the group of plants, They have

been unfortunately ignored and least known to

many people. Moreover this group of plants

formed a dominant part of earth's vegetation in the

historic past on wards. Though, economic and

medicinal values of higher plants especially the

angiosperms have been investigated more when

compared to pteridophytes. But few them

reported its importance in various aspects, studies

on ornamental potential ferns from Nilgiris of

Tamil Nadu was done by Sonia et al. (2012).

According to them the pteridophytes are of

immense economic importance as medicinal, food,

shelter, ornamental purposes. They documented

153 ferns and 18 fern-allies from Nilgiris of South

India. Out of which, twenty potential ornamental

ferns listed and these were high lightened with

their respective ornamental potentialities.

Similarly some potential ornamental pteridophytes

from Adimali region of Idukki District, Kerala,

India were studied by Priya et al. (2014a). Their

studies reveal that, the documentation of 25

ornamental pteridophytes belonging to 17 families

and 17 genera. Among these 17 families of

ornamental pteridophytes Adiantaceae and

Selaginellaceae is the dominant ones with 4

species each followed by Pteridaceae and

Aspleniacae with 2 species each. A medico-

potential fern of Adimali region, Idukki District,

Kerala was studied by Priya et al. (2014b). They

made an attempt to compile the information on

various medicinal uses of 30 commonly available

pteridophytes belonging to 21 families and 23

genera from the Adimali Block Panchayat of

Idukki District, Kerala. The medicinal uses of

such pteridophytic plants and their active

constituents would be helpful in treating various

kinds of diseases. Similar studies like

Ethnomedicinal fern and fern-allies used by tribe

Malayalis of Kolli Hills, Eastern Ghats, Tamil

Nadu was done Revathi et al. (2013), according to

their observation, there about 50- species of ethno-

medicinal pteridophytes which are utilized by tribe

Malayalis in Kolli hills of Eastern Ghats, Tamil

Nadu. These 50 species spreading over 27 families

and 35 genera. From this study it is clear that Kolli

malayalis possess vast knowledge on the

medicinal plant resources in their surroundings

and these medicinal fern and fern allies plays a

major role in the healthcare needs of this tribal

community. These studies high lightened the

ecological and economical value of pteridophytes.

Therefore the conservation of such valuable group

Binu Thomas / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume – 1, Issue – 2, Page – 138 - 141, 2015 140

©2015 Published by JPS Scientific Publications Ltd. All rights reserved

is highly essential, in that point of view the role of

botanic gardens are highly remarkable.

Table – 1: List of pteridophytic species in the

Government Botanical Garden, Ooty

S.

No.

Botanical Name Family

1. Actinopteris radiata

(Sw.) Link

Actinopteridaceae

2. Adiantum hispidulum

Sw.

Adiantaceae

3. Adiantum raddianum

C. Presl.

Adiantaceae

4. Anemia wightiana

Gardner

Schizaeaceae

5. Asplenium nidus L. Aspleniaceae

6. Blechnum orientale L. Blechnaceae

7. Cheilanthes bulbosa

Kunze

Cheilanthaceae

8. Cheilanthes swartzii

Webb.

Cheilanthaceae

9. Doodia dives Kunze Blechnaceae

10. Equisetum

ramosissimum Desf.

Equisetaceae

11. Microsorum punctatum

(L.) Copel

Polypodiaceae

12. Nephrolepis auriculata

(L.) Trim.

Nephrolepidaceae

13. Nephrolepis multiflora

(Roxb.) Jarret

Nephrolepidaceae

14. Odontosoria chinensis

(L.) J.Sm.

Lindsaeaceae

15. Osmunda regalis L. Osmundaceae

16. Parahemionitis cordata

(Roxb.) Fras.

Hemionitidaceae

17. Phlebodium aureum

(L.) J.Sm.

Polypodiaceae

18. Phymatosorus

nigrescens (Blume.)

Pic.

Polypodiaceae

19. Pityrogramma

calamelanos (L.) Link

Hemionitidaceae

20. Pteris argyraea T.

Moore

Pteridaceae

21. Pteris cretica L. Pteridaceae

22. Pyrrosia porosa (C.

Presl.) Hoven.

Polypodiaceae

4. Conclusion

Plants have been used as a source of food

medicine and many other necessities of life since

time immemorial. Pteridophytes are the

fascinating group of plants, which are distributed

more in the Himalayas and Western Ghats. More

over this group of plants are least studied when

compared to angiosperms. Even though, Fern and

fern allies have always been in the center stage of

attraction to botanists, horticulturists and nature

lovers since ancient times. The sustainable mode

of conservation practice are to be essential to

protect this valuable group of plants from various

anthropogenic activities. In this point of view the

role of Government Botanical Garden,

Udhagamandalam (Ooty) is highly remarkable.

5. References

1) Benjamin, A and Manickam, V.S. 2007.

Medicinal Pteridophytes from the Western

Ghats. Ind. J. Trad. Know., 6(4): 611 – 618.

2) Binu Thomas and Rajendran, A. 2012.

Chasmophytic fern and fern allies of

Coimbatore district, Southern Western Ghats,

Tamil Nadu, India. J. Applied Bio. Res., 11: 1-

10.

3) Jaya Vijayan, Ramachandran, V.S. and Binu

Thomas 2014b. Role of Botanic Garden in

Conserving Edible Plants. Europ. J. Environ.

Ecol., 1(1): 26 - 28.

4) Jaya Vijayan, Ramachandran V.S. and Binu

Thomas. 2014a. Botanic gardens: suitable

habitats for conserving medicinal plants. Int. J.

Pharmacol. Res., 4(1): 62 - 65.

5) Manickam, V.S., Irudayaraj, V. 1992.

Pteridophyte Flora of the Western Ghats-

South India. B.I. Publications Pvt. Ltd., New

Delhi.

6) Manickam, V.S., Irudayaraj, V. 2003.

Pteridophyte Flora of Nilgiris, South India,

Bishen Singh Mahendra & Pal Singh, Publications, Dehra Dun.

7) Priya Ramachandran, Binu Thomas and Sonia

Abraham. 2014. Medico-potential ferns of

Adimali region, Idukki District, Kerala, India.

Pteridol. Res., 3(2): 1 – 9 (ISSN: 2319-1910).

Binu Thomas / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume – 1, Issue – 2, Page – 138 - 141, 2015 141

©2015 Published by JPS Scientific Publications Ltd. All rights reserved

8) Priya Ramachandran, Binu Thomas, Sonia

Abraham and Varghese, M.C. 2014. Potential

Ornamental Pteridophytes From Adimali

Region of Idukki District, Kerala, India. J. Sci.

Bot., 4(5): 300 - 305.

9) Revathi, R., Muthuraja, R., Binu Thomas

and Raju, K. 2013. Ethno medicinal fern and

fern- allies used by tribe Malayalis of

Kolli Hills, Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu.

Pteridol. Res., 2(1): 1 - 10.

10) Sonia A., Ramachandran, V.S. and Sofia, C.

2012. Potential ornamental Ferns from

Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Adv. Appl. Sci., 3(4):

2388 - 2391.

11) Upreti, K., Jeewan, S. J., Lalit, M.T., Joshi, G.

C., Pangtey, Y.P.S. and Tewari, G. 2009.

Ethnomedicinal uses of Pteridophytes of

Kumaun Himalaya, India. J. Amer. Sci., 5(4):

167 - 170.

12) Yumkham, S.D. and Singh, P.K. 2011. Less

known fern allies of Manipur with Ethno-

botanic uses. Ind. J. Trad. Know., 10(2): 287 -

291.