Occurrence of the wood fern <Arachniodes sledgei> Fraser-Jenk. (Pteridophyta: Dryopteridaceae) in the northern Western Ghats, India

The genus Arachniodes (Dryopteridaceae) is mainly distributed in tropical Asia, with Indian records largely confined to the Himalaya, northeastern India, and southern Western Ghats. No confirmed report existed from the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. The present note discusses the occurrence of Arachniodes sledgei Fraser-Jenk. as a new distributional record for the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. A detailed morphological description, distribution, ecology, conservation status, and photographs are given. The field surveys conducted during 2023–2025 in Kolhapur District yielded specimens that were identified through morphological comparison with standard floras and herbarium collections. This finding extends the known distribution of the species and highlights the need for further pteridophyte exploration and conservation assessment in the northern Western Ghats.