Athyrium esculentum (Retz.) Copel. is one of the species of ferns that has suffered the most in nomenclature, having been by different authors attributed to at least eight different genera (Hemionitis, Diplazium, Asplenium, Anisogonium, Microstegia, Callipteris, Digrammaria, and Gymnogramme). It extends from Polynesia to India, growing as a straggling weed in marshy, or just moist, areas which are not necessarily shaded. A. esculentum lacks the elegance of most other species of Athyrium and consequently is not favoured as an ornamental fern, although it is comparatively easy to cultivate and is one of the most important of ferns as human food. The tender leaves of the plant are used as a vegetable in preparing tasty salads, pickles, etc. Comparatively little is known regarding the gametophyte of Athyrium esculentum or for that matter any species of Athyrium. In view of this, spores were collected from plants growing at the National Botanic Gardens (Lucknow) and sown in September, 1955, on sand beds irrigated from below and maintained in a glass house. The technique followed is as described earlier (Kachroo & Nayar, 1953; Nayar, 1954). The spores of A. esculentum (Figs. 2, 3) are bilateral,1 anisopolar, with a single linear short proximal laesura, of medium size, monolete, concavo-convex in equatorial view, with one of the equatorial ends narrower than the other and with a brown scabrate exine (having small irregular elevated patches). The exine pattern (Fig. 1) is discernible only in acetolysed and bleached preparations. The average size of the spores is P 29.16 ?, E1 44.00 . and E2 30.24 x. The size variations are: P 25.00 to 32.50 1, E1 39.50 to 50.50 /u and E2 25.00 to 36.00 ji. In culture the spores germinate within a week. The first