Specimen
Habitat
MP-0007 / 0024 โ Lygodiaceae
Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Sw.
Kanikusa (JP)
A fern that climbs: its leaf axis twines upward without end, a habit shared by very few ferns.
Distribution
East and South Asia, from Japan (Honshu southwards) through China and Southeast Asia to northern Australia.
Habitat
Sunny forest edges, thickets, roadsides and open, disturbed land.
Morphology
A climbing fern. The leaf axis (rachis) has unlimited growth and twines around supports, bearing 2โ3-pinnate pinnae. Sterile and fertile pinnae differ; sporangia are borne in marginal lobes of the fertile pinnae.
Botanical notes
One of the few ferns with a twining, climbing habit. The spores (haijinsha) have been used in traditional East Asian medicine.
References
Taxonomy and distribution follow Plants of the World Online (Kew), YList (Yonekura & Kajita) and regional floras; CITES Species+ for trade status. Descriptions are provisional and are revised as specimens are verified.