Scientific name: Microsorum punctatum (L.) Copel.
Family: Polypodiaceae
Synonym: Microsorum irregulare Link
Bengali/Vernacular name: Patra dehkia.
Tribal name: Khuli (Tanchangya).
English name: Climbing bird’s nest fern.
Description of the plant: Rhizome shortly creeping, thick, 7 mm in diameter, embedded in a thick felt of roots. Fronds closely spaced, apparently tufted, rigid, glabrous, coriaceous. Stipe short to absent. Lamina very narrowly elliptic-oblong, simple, margins entire to irregularly wavy, apex rounded to tapering to a point, gradually decrescent to a broadly or narrowly winged base, midrib raised on both sides; venation obscure, anastomising with included veinlets. Sori circular, minute, distributed irregularly on the undersurface of the fronds.
Plant parts used: Frond.
Medicinal uses: Frond juice is used for the treatment of abdominal disorder.
A paste is made with fronds of the plant is applied on the affected area for healing wound.
Juice extracted from the fronds is given for the treatment of urination problem.
Distribution: This epiphytic fern grows on old trees or walls throughout the country.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
