INTRODUCTION

Ferns are a conspicuous element of the vegetation of most tropical regions. They occur in a wide variety of habitats from freshwater ponds and swamp areas to terrestrial plants in forest at all altitudes to lithophytic on rocks or epiphytic on tree trunks or branches. They are frequently overlooked in biodiversity surveys, in part because they are difficult to identify for the non-specialist. In this website we hope to address this problem and to promote Southeast Asian ferns as an integral part of Asia’s vascular plant diversity.

This website aims to provide comprehensive lists of all species of ferns known from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; provide a Factsheet for each species which lists such information as the correct name and its synonym(s), a description, its distribution and its conservation status; and to provide a multi-access key to identify all species.

The information contained within this website is only as good as the information that has become available through fieldwork and herbarium collections made. Laos and Cambodia have amongst the lowest plant collection densities for Asia so it is very likely that many species will eventually be found in those countries that have yet to be recorded. Even for Thailand new records and new species are regularly reported. We hope to ensure that this website is kept up-to-date with new discoveries as and when they are reported.

This website began as an investigation of the ferns of Thailand with funding from the Leverhulme Trust. The data for Laos was added later with funding from the Sibbald Trust and the data for Cambodia added with funding from the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

Please cite this website as: Lindsay, S. & Middleton, D.J. (2012 onwards). Ferns of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/thaiferns/

Site hosted by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Content managed by Stuart Lindsay, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore and David Middleton, Singapore Botanic Gardens. Last updated 16 November 2016.