Water Fern
Ceratopteris thalictroides
- Habit
- Herb-Aquatic
- Found in India
- Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand & more
How to identify Water Fern
Identify Water Fern 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-aquatic habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Floats or roots in water, popular aquarium plant.
- Confirm leaf type: Finely doubly-divided (bipinnate, lacy).
- Confirm leaf surface: Plain green underside.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Pteridaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Water Fern.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Ceratopteris thalictroides
- Genus
- Ceratopteris
- Family
- Pteridaceae
- Habit
- Herb-Aquatic
- Distribution
- Tropical Asia, Central America, Tropical Africa
- Found in India
- Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Finely doubly-divided (bipinnate, lacy)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Plain green undersiderecorded
Characters marked “recorded” are for Water Fern itself; the rest are typical of the Pteridaceae family.
Local Names
- Bengali
- ক্ষুদে ঢেকিশাক, পানিশাক
About Water Fern
Water Fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides) is a species in the Pteridaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand and 9 other states.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and used to hold soil and restore degraded ground. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Pteridaceae
Maidenhair Fern Family
Water Fern 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.
All plant problem & care guides