Vegetable fern is an edible fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

 found throughout Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

. It is probably the most commonly consumed fern . The young fronds are stir-fried as a "vegetable" or used in salads.

It is known as paco in the Philippines, and linguda in northern India, referring to the curled fronds. They may have mild amounts of fern toxins but no major toxic effects are recorded.

D. esculentum is sometimes grown as a house plant.