The Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) is a popular ornamental plant, known for its green, dense, and curving leaves. It can also be kept as a hanging plant in the home or office. It is an evergreen fern that grows well in moist and shady locations. Its long, soft leaves enhance the beauty of homes and gardens. The Boston fern also helps purify the air, making it a particularly popular indoor plant. This plant grows 40 to 90 cm tall. It is easy to care for. It does not require much sunlight and grows well with regular watering. The floral formula and other information of this hanging plants is explained below –
Scientific Name: Nephrolepis exaltata
Some Basic Information about Boston fern plant (the hanging plants)
Habit: Perennial, evergreen, herbaceous fern, 40–90 cm tall, with arching fronds forming dense tufts. Commonly cultivated as a decorative indoor and outdoor foliage plant.
Root: Fibrous root system arising from short creeping rhizomes. Roots help anchor the plant in moist, organic soils and in hanging baskets.
Stem: Rhizome horizontal, short, and scaly; aerial stem absent. Stolons sometimes produced, giving rise to new plantlets.
Leaf (Frond): Arising in clusters from the rhizome; pinnate, long and arching, 30–100 cm in length. Leaflets (pinnae) numerous, alternate or opposite, lanceolate with finely serrated margins, bright green, and glabrous. Young leaves are circinate (coiled) in bud, a typical fern characteristic.
Inflorescence: Absent, as ferns reproduce by spores instead of flowers.
Flower: Absent. Plant reproduces by spores formed in sporangia.
Sporangium and Sorus: Sporangia borne on the underside of fertile fronds in clusters called sori; sori round, protected by a kidney-shaped indusium. Each sporangium produces numerous spores.
Gametophyte: Spores germinate to form a small, heart-shaped gametophyte called prothallus, which bears antheridia and archegonia.
Reproduction: Alternation of generations, with distinct sporophytic (dominant) and gametophytic (independent) phases.
Fruit: Absent
Systematic Position
Division – Pteridophyta
Class – Filicopsida
Order – Polypodiales
Family – Nephrolepidaceae
Genus – Nephrolepis
Species – exaltata
