spores on the underside of the leaves that are used for reproduction said a benniamin director of the western regional centre of the botanical survey of india bsi it is unclear why but not all of the spores germinate when favourable conditions are provided this can be seen in the vascular bundles of the plants that have allowed them to gain height benniamin said however with the larger spores comes a problem that is causing problems in the conservation of these rare plants the viability of the spores is poor for instance the spores of cyathea gigantea are arranged in a repeating vshaped pattern whereas those of cyathea nilgiriensis are arranged in rows he added tree ferns are a group of evolved ferns that can grow on trees the trunks are cut at the base and the entire plant is used to decorate the entrance of homes he added the cyathea gigantea is the largest among these four species and is known to grow as high as coconut trees while the cythea spinulosa stands out because of the spikes on the trunk of the plant that give the fern its name he added i have read papers that have recorded the presence of this fern in the western ghats but when i visited those areas i was not able to find it said a benniamin director of the western regional centre of the botanical survey of india bsi