Ranikhet – a few new Eco-destinations (Open Air Fernery)

ॐ

Ranikhet – a few new Eco-destinations

(Open Air Fernery)

Entry gate of the Fernery in Ranikhet

            I have posted two blogs as part of the series in respect of the initiatives undertaken by the Forest Department, Research Wing of Uttarakhand highlighting the concept and ecological importance of the destinations.  The last in this series is the ‘Open Air Fernery’ that was inaugurated on the 12^th of September, 2022 by renowned expert of ferns Nilambar Kunetha, who has also guided in curating the project.  The fernery has the largest collection of fern species, second to only Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), Thiruvananthapuram. However, it is the country’s first open-air fernery in natural surroundings, which is not under any poly-house/ shade house, but in open air conditions.  The Ranikhet fernery, situated in the Kalika range region, has around 120 different types of fern, spreads over four acres of land at an altitude of 1,800 meters.  The facility has been developed under Central Government’s ‘Compensatory Afforestation Management Funds Management and Planning Authority’ (CAMPA) scheme, by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department over a period of three years.  The fernery is home to fern species that are both endemic to the state as well as those that are from other States, especially the Western Ghat region. Some of these ferns have medicinal value, while some are threatened species that require care and protection.  Therefore, this project has been conceived with the dual objectives of ‘Conservation of the ferns’ as well as to ‘create awareness about the ecological and day to day role these ferns play’ in our lives.

Various types of fern species identified and named

Another fern species identified and indented

Some more ferns

            Many of my readers, may by now be intrigued to know, as to what are Ferns exactly are.  Ferns are the oldest form of plants, which had evolved from the multicellular Bryophytes into plants that had proper vascular system with tree trunk like structures.  The earliest forms of plants were single cell organisms that multiplied through fission i.e. breaking into two cells. They were followed by Bryophytes that were multi celled, but these too propagated through fission.  The Ferns were more like present day plants with a proper vascular system i.e. root, stem & leaves/false leaves that had specific internal channels like Xylem & Phloem to transmit water & food throughout the plant and classified as Pteridophytes (more recently the taxonomical classification has been changed as Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group) .  The Ferns pre-date the present day flowering plants that are classified as Angiosperms and existed in abundance even during the pre-historic periods, during the times when the Dinosaurs roamed the Earth.  The basic difference between the Angiosperms and Pteridophytes is that while the former uses flowers & seeds as means of reproduction for dispersal/propagation, the later uses spores for reproduction and propagation.  I am putting in a few diagrams to make the concept of life cycle and reproduction of Ferns (as sourced from the internet), for explaining it in a pictorial manner -

Parts of a fern (Sourced from the internet)

Life cycle of a fern (Sourced from the internet)

          Ferns first appear in the fossil record about 360 million years ago in the late Devonian, but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. The fern Osmunda claytoniana is a paramount example of the evolutionary trends and the paleontological evidence shows that it has remained unchanged, even at the level of fossilized nuclei and chromosomes, for at least 180 million years.  Ferns and fern are the second largest group of allied plants in the Indian flora. It consists of 1,267 species and 130 genera represented by a total of 33 families, of which about 70 species are endemic to India.  In addition, ferns are indicators of moisture and clean the ecosystem akin to Lichens.  These are good nitrogen-fixing agents like the widely used Leguminosae (Pea/various daals) in crop rotation. They are also used to filter heavy metals from polluted water and are a bio-indicator for the health of an ecosystem.  The Ferns therefore have a wide range of benefits for humans and the ecosystem.  Some of them possess medicinal properties, whereas other are edible and still others have other uses.  One of them is the Lycopodiosida  or commonly called the Club ferns and their spores are used to produce ‘Lycopodium powder’ and those playing Carrom Board would be well aware of its use during the game i.e. for smooth flow of the Striker & Coins, now a days instead of the Lycopodium powder, Boric powder is used, as the former is quite costly.

More named variety of ferns at the fernery

Another named variety of a fern in the Fernery

More fern in the Fernery

The spores of a fern plant on the hind side of the leaf at the Fernery

The fernery in Ranikhet has round 30 species which have large medicinal significance. The species embrace Hansraj (Adiantum venustum) which has been given significance in Ayurveda in addition to within the Tibetan system of drugs as a treatment for a lot of illnesses.  The fernery additionally shows some distinguished edible species of fern like Lingura (Diplazium esculentum), a preferred meals merchandise within the hills of Uttarakhand as well as North East India, which is extremely nutritious and collected in wild during the monsoon season.  It has a mixture of species from the western and Himalayan areas in addition to from Western Ghats. It homes many uncommon species, distinguished amongst that are Tree Fern (Cyathea spinulosa) which has been declared as “threatened” by the State Biodiversity Board of Uttarakhand.  Only some crops of this species are left within the wild and is taken into account one of the crucial historic species of fern.  It’s stated that herbivore dinosaur used to feed on its trunk which is wealthy in starch.  Moreover, the fernery additionally shows many epiphyte, aquatic ferns and fashionable and attention-grabbing ferns like Vishkanya, Mayurshikha, Boston Fern, Woman Fern, Rock Fern, Basket Fern, Ladder Fern, Golden Fern and Horsetail Fern.  Further boasting of varied fern species, it additionally shows attention-grabbing info about ferns like reference of invisible seeds of ferns in Shakesphere’s play Henry IV and the craze of ferns generally known as ‘Pteredomania’ during the Victorian period.

A panoramic view of the Ranikhet Fernery

Some ferns that grow on tree trunks

Another variety of fern that grows on decaying tree trunks

Lingura (Diplazium esculentum) a local delicacy and edible fern

 It is also a must visit destination for nature lovers and for me it was a great journey as it rekindled memories of my student days, as I have a Honors Degree in Botany and having studied the Ferns as one of subjects, I was teleported to a bygone era.  I have therefore crafted this blog in a detailed manner to convey the importance of Ferns even in today’s world.

Here is a link to a short video of the destination -

© S Roy Biswas