Close-up views:

The fronds of this climbing fern is largest in term of size and length when compared to the rest of the climbing ferns available in Singapore. According to the Flora of China website, the length of the pinna (leaflet) can be up to 25 centimetres (cm). The pictures below illustrated the size of this fern. In the left picture, the smaller climbing fern was Lygodium flexuosum. In the right picture, the fern in the background highlighted with the blue arrows was Nephrolepis biserrata (Giant Sword Fern).

I was once confused between Lygodium circinnatum and Lygodium longifolium until November 2014 when I had the chance to meet a live specimen of Lygodium circinnatum in the wild. Based on the description in the Flora of China website, the margin of the pinnae (leaflets) of Lygodium longifolium is shallowly serrate (teeth-like arrangement) while that of Lygodium circinnatum entire (smooth). The picture on the left below is from Lygodium longifolium while that on the right is from Lygodium circinnatum.

Reference:

[1] Rahayu M, Kuncari ES, Mahdawia, Setiawan M. Short Communication: Ethnobotanical study of Lygodium circinnatum and its utilization in crafts weaving in Indonesia. Biodiversitas 2020;21:617-621. | Read article |