English: Graceful fern.
Family:
Polypodiaceae.
Region: tropical regions of Central and South America, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador.
Habitat: lowland rainforests, growing as an epiphyte on trees or as a terrestrial plant in well-drained soils; thrives in humid, shaded environments.
Use: ornamental, for its attractive, leathery fronds and ease of care; medicinal, In traditional medicine, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing.
BotanyFern: epiphytic, in the canopies of trees, but occasionally terrestrial on rocks or on the ground, at higher altitude.
Root: rhizomatous; with many fine rootlets covered in dark reddish-brown scales; forming a root basket, that traps leaf litter and dust, forming a nutrient-rich soil that holds water.
Leaves: simple; thick; leathery; waxy; lanceolate; up to 1 meter long, ± 4 centimetres wide; dark green; glossy; crisscrossing veins.
Sporangia: on the underside of the fronds in sori; often elongated; in parallel rows.
Sori: round; large; in single rows between veins at the far end of the leaf.
Dispersion: through wind and water.
Biochemistry: uses crassulacean acid metabolism, CAM; production of gametophytes is determined by light levels rather than by a hormone.