Whisk fern, Psilotum nudum (Family Psilotaceae), is a widespread, rootless, green-stemmed epiphyte. Technically, this plant is said to have no leaves, but instead possesses minute enations along the angular stem axis and in association with the 3-lobed spore-producing structure, the synangium. This is one of only a few surviving members of an ancient group of vascular plants, accepted by some botanists as the most primitive--certainly the most primitive-looking and simplest--vascular plant alive today. The name whisk fern is somewhat of a misnomer, because this is not classified as a fern.

[Return to Text]