Hamsapadi / Walking Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum philippense
- Habit
- Herb-Terrestrial
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra & more
How to identify Hamsapadi
Identify Hamsapadi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb-terrestrial habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Produces small plantlets at the frond tip (walking fern).
- Confirm leaf type: Finely doubly-divided (bipinnate, lacy).
- Confirm leaf surface: Plain green underside.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Pteridaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Hamsapadi.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Adiantum philippense
- Genus
- Adiantum
- Family
- Pteridaceae
- Habit
- Herb-Terrestrial
- Distribution
- Tropical Asia, Tropical Africa
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Finely doubly-divided (bipinnate, lacy)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Plain green undersiderecorded
Characters marked “recorded” are for Hamsapadi itself; the rest are typical of the Pteridaceae family.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Hamsapadi
About Hamsapadi
Walking Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum philippense) is a ground herb in the Pteridaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra and 20 other states.
Pteridaceae
Maidenhair Fern Family
Hamsapadi belongs to the Pteridaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Pteridaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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