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Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Study area. 3. Previous Pteridophytes exploration in Western Ghats. 4. List of Pteridophytes in Western Ghats. 5. Enumeration of species. 6. Photo plates of the species. 7. Endemic Pteridophytes in Western Ghats. 8. Conservation. 9. Phytogeographical analysis. References.

Western Ghats is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the eight hottest hot spots of biological diversity in the world. The Western Ghats run a distance of about 1600km from Tapti valley in the state of Gujarat to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.  Presently there is no updated checklist of Pteridophytes from Western Ghats, the last major work on the pteridophyte Flora of the Western Ghats, was done by Manickam and Irudayraj in 1992 and had reported 256 species form Southern Western Ghats of South India.  The present book is an attempt to clarify the taxonomic status of all Pteridophytes distributed in Western Ghats and to bring together all available information on latest nomenclature and their geographical distribution, it is based on comprehensive and intensive field survey’s undertaken by the first author and deals with 351 species belonging to 84 genera and 26 families, including 31 species which are endemic to Western Ghats.  The book is illustrated with more than 400 colored photographs for easy identification of pteridophytes in wild.  The information provided in this book will be helpful in the correct naming of collection and will also contribute to the acceleration of revisionary work on Indian ferns. The book will indeed be useful to students, teachers, researchers, foresters and all those interested in Pteridophytes.