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WHISK FERN
Psilotum (whisk ferns) is a genus of fern-like vascular plants, the sole genus in the family Psilotaceae and one of only two genera in the order Psilotales and the division Psilotophyta (the other being Tmesipteris).
They have traditionally been thought not to be true ferns, but rather, odd "primitive" vascular plants that reproduce solely by spores, without seeds. Recent evidence has however suggested that they may in fact be ferns that have lost a number of pteridophytic characteristics, but their status is still uncertain.
There are two species, Psilotum nudum and Psilotum complanatum, with a hybrid between them known, Psilotum x intermedium W. H. Wagner.
The distribution of Psilotum is tropical and subtropical, in the New World, Asia, and the Pacific. The highest latitudes known are in South Carolina and southern Japan for P. nudum.
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