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Psilotum
Also called Whisk Ferns, Fork Ferns
Whisk ferns are leafless, root-less fern relatives in the genus Psilotum, which grow as green branching stems anchored by underground rhizomes. The key to growing them is warm, humid conditions with moist, well-drained soil and bright light, and they are mainly kept as curiosities in greenhouses and terrariums.
Psilotum is a genus of fern-like vascular plants. It is one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae commonly known as whisk ferns, the other being Tmesipteris. Plants in these two genera were once thought to be descended from the earliest surviving vascular plants, but more recent phylogenies place them as basal ferns, as a sister group to Ophioglossales. They lack true roots, and leaves are very reduced, the stems being the organs containing photosynthetic and conducting tissue. There are only two species in Psilotum and a hybrid between the two. They differ from those in Tmesipteris in having stems with many branches and a synangium with three lobes rather than two.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Psilotum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
