Despite a relatively large number of theories, the actual origins of the vegetative organs of ferns are still unknown. It is usually suggested that the original fern stem was protostelic (its stele having no pith or leaf gaps), but this is not necessarily true of the immediate ancestor of modern ferns. In fact, it is conceivable that “eustelar” stems, with secondary growth (i.e., growth in thickness, as in the stems of modern conifers and woody flowering plants), gave rise to modern fern stems through reduction and disappearance of the secondary growth and replacement of the stele by overlapping leaf traces (the vascular bundles from stele to leaf).

The leaf is equally or even more problematic as to its ultimate origin. Various hypotheses have been offered, of which the telome theory (that the leaf arose from fusions and rearrangements of branching stem systems) and the enation theory (that the leaf arose from simple enations, or outgrowths) are the two most popular. The true story seems to be lost in antiquity and perhaps will never be known. Leaves of most modern ferns, with their characteristic fiddleheads, acropetal growth (i.e., “seeking the apex,” the leaf tissues maturing from the base toward the tip, where the youngest tissues are produced), and pinnate structure, are nevertheless quite distinctive. They differ in numerous respects from sphenophylls, such as those of conifers, and from euphylls, such as those of flowering plants. It is possible that these leaf types did not originate in the same way and even that different examples of each had different origins.

Annotated classification

The classification presented here is derived from the 2016 taxonomic consensus of the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG I). Numbers given for the species are only rough approximations of living groups.

• Class Polypodiopsida (ferns)

  • Subclass Ophioglossidae

    • Order Ophioglossales

      • Family Ophioglossaceae (adder’s tongue, grape ferns, moonworts)

        Plants usually with somewhat fleshy stems and roots; leaves divided into sterile and fertile segments, these variously entire to highly divided, not developing through circinate vernation, the base more or less clasping the stem; eusporangiate (with unstalked, globose sporangia); gametophytes subterranean, not green; 4 or more genera (Botrychium, Helminthostachys, Ophioglossum, and Mankyua) with about 80 species.

    • Order Psilotales (whisk ferns)

      • Family Psilotaceae

        Plants lacking true roots, stems dichotomously branched, protostelic (the stele lacking pith and leaf gaps); leaves reduced to minute scalelike outgrowths (enations) without veins, or small, flattened, and undivided, with a single midvein (microphylls), not developing through circinate vernation; sporangia eusporangiate in fused clusters (synangia) of 2 or 3, situated along the aerial stems; gametophytes similar in appearance to the rhizomes of the sporophytes, subterranean, not green; 2 genera (Psilotum, Tmesipteris) with 12 species found in tropical and warm temperate regions nearly worldwide.

  • Subclass Equisetidae

    • Order Equisetales (horsetails)

      • Family Equisetaceae

        Stems with whorled branches, longitudinally ridged, hollow between the nodes, with characteristic rings of longitudinal canals; leaves whorled, reduced to a ring of small scalelike structures, these with a single vein, often papery and not green; sporangia eusporangiate, positioned under small umbrella-shaped branchlets that are grouped into complex terminal, conelike structures (strobili); spores green, with 4 flattened threadlike appendages (elaters) that aid in dispersal; 1 modern genus (Equisetum) with 15 species, distributed nearly worldwide.

  • Subclass Marattiidae

    • Order Marattiales (giant ferns)

      • Family Marattiaceae

        Leaves pinnately divided, pulvinate (enlarged or swollen at attachment point of leaflets) in living genera, and with well-developed, fleshy stipules (appendages at leaf base); sporangia eusporangiate, in sori, or more or less coalescent in synangia (clusters); homosporous; mostly massive, fleshy ferns; 6 modern genera (Angiopteris, Christensenia, Danaea, Eupodium, Marattia, and Ptisana) with about 150 species, widely distributed in tropical regions.

  • Subclass Polypodiidae (leptosporangiate ferns)

    • Order Osmundales

      • Family Osmundaceae (royal ferns)

        Plants in soil, often in wetlands; rhizomes often stout, usually erect or ascending, occasionally trunklike; leaves 1 to 4 times pinnately divided; the petiole thickened at the base; sporangia often on contracted, sometimes nongreen segments of entirely separate fertile leaves or fertile portions of otherwise vegetative leaves, less commonly along veins of unmodified leaf segments, maturing nearly simultaneously, intermediate in spore number between eusporangia and leptosporangia, the annulus a lateral patch of thick-walled cells; 6 genera (Claytosmunda, Leptopteris, Osmunda, Osmundopteris, Plenasium, and Todea) and 20 modern species, distributed nearly worldwide.

    • Order Hymenophyllales

      • Family Hymenophyllaceae (filmy ferns)

        Mostly rainforest epiphytes; mostly tiny ferns with blades only 1 cell thick between veins; spores globose, green; gametophyte ribbon-shaped or filamentous, gemmiferous; principal genera are Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes; 9 genera (different authorities give anywhere from 2 to more than 28) with some 600 species found in tropical regions around the world, a few species extending into temperate areas.

    • Order Gleicheniales

      • Family Gleicheniaceae (forking ferns)

        Plants in soil or on rocks; rhizomes creeping; leaves mostly sprawling over other vegetation, falsely dichotomous, the segments mostly narrowly lobed; sporangia with oblique annuli and clustered in simple sori lacking indusia; stems creeping, protostelic (its stele lacking pith and leaf gaps); Gleichenia, Dicranopteris, and 4 other genera with about 125 species, distributed in the tropics.

      • Family Dipteridaceae (umbrella ferns)

        Plants in soil; rhizomes long-creeping, hairy; leaf blades usually palmately divided into 2 or more lobes, the veins of at least the vegetative fronds forming a dense network; sori scattered on or covering the leaf undersurface, each associated with 2 or more veins, thick, stalked, the annulus vertical or slightly oblique; 2 genera, Dipteris, with about 11 species distributed mostly in the Paleotropics, and Cheiropleuria, with 1 species (Cheiropleuria bicuspis) in the Paleotropics.

      • Family Matoniaceae

        Plants in soil; leaves either fanlike, with lobed, narrow segments, or climbing, with long midribs; sporangia with oblique annuli, the simple sori covered by a thick umbrella-shaped indusium-like structure; 2 genera (Matonia and Phanerosorus) with 4 species, distributed in the Paleotropics.

    • Order Schizaeales

      • Family Schizaeaceae

        Leaves more or less grasslike, with a long petiole and a linear or fan-shaped blade; veins dichotomously branching; sporangia dense on specialized slender lobes of the ultimate segments; the annulus a subapical ring of thickened cells; 2 genera (Schizaea and Actinostachys) with about 30 species, mostly tropical.

      • Family Lygodiaceae

        Rhizomes long-creeping, hairy; leaves indeterminate in growth, climbing and often twining, the primary divisions alternate along the elongating stemlike rachis; sporangia often in 2 rows, densely spaced along specialized slender lobes of the ultimate segments, each sporangium covered by an indusium-like flange of tissue; the annulus a subapical ring of thickened cells; 1 genus (Lygodium) with about 25 species, mostly distributed in the tropics.

      • Family Anemiaceae

        Rhizomes creeping to erect, hairy; leaves with the basal pair (or, rarely, more) of primary divisions modified, mostly lacking laminar tissue, and densely covered with sporangia; sporangia with the annulus a subapical ring of thickened cells; 1 genus (Anemia) with about 100 species, mostly in the Neotropics.

    • Order Salviniales

      • Family Salviniaceae (floating ferns)

        Plants heterosporous; stems usually relatively short, mostly appearing dichotomously branched, sometimes lacking roots; leaves either alternate and 2-lobed with 1 lobe green and floating and the other submerged and white or translucent (Azolla) or in whorls of 3 with 2 leaves unlobed and floating and the 3rd submerged, modified, and appearing similar to a mass of dichotomously branching roots (Salvinia); sori from the submerged lobe or leaf, enclosed in a globose indusium, each containing either 1 megaspore or several microspores; 2 genera, sometimes treated as separate families (Azollaceae and Salviniaceae), Azolla (about 6 species) and Salvinia (about 10 species), of floating aquatics, distributed nearly worldwide but most diverse in the tropics.

      • Family Marsileaceae (clover ferns)

        Plants heterosporous; rhizomes long-creeping, slender, glabrous or hairy; leaves with 2 or 4 leaflets at the petiole tip or lacking a blade altogether, the venation of leaflets dichotomously branching; sori enclosed in stalked bean-shaped sporocarps (highly modified leaves), these very complex internally, each containing both megasporangia and microsporangia; 3 genera of mostly aquatic plants rooted in the substrate—Marsilea (waterclover), Pilularia (pillwort), and Regnellidium—with about 75 species found nearly worldwide.

    • Order Cyatheales (tree ferns)

      • Family Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ferns)

        Stems erect and mostly trunklike (to 25 metres, [82 feet]) or less commonly creeping or sprawling to short-ascending, scaly near the tip (sometimes also hairy) and usually with a mantle of roots; leaves mostly large (up to 5 metres [about 16 feet]), but in a few species only 10–40 cm (about 4–16 inches), 1 to 4 times pinnately compound (rarely entire), the segments sometimes deeply lobed, scaly, at least on the petioles, sometimes also hairy or spiny; sori in various positions on the leaf undersurface, the sporangia on a usually short receptacle, the indusium absent or varying from deeply 2-lobed to saucer-shaped, cup-shaped, or globose, the annulus slightly to moderately oblique; spores variously ornamented on the surface, often with an equatorial flange or girdle; 3 genera of tree ferns (Alsophila, Cyathea, and Sphaeropteris) with more than 600 modern species, widely distributed in tropical regions.

      • Family Thyrsopteridaceae

        Stems erect and trunklike or sprawling, hairy and with a mantle of roots, often producing slender runners; leaves large (up to 3.5 metres [11.5 feet]), 3 to 5 times pinnately compound, the axes grooved on the upper surface, the fertile portions with reduced laminar tissue; sori situated in cuplike indusia; sporangia attached to a club-shaped receptacle, the annulus oblique; spores 3-angled, the surface granular; 1 genus (Thyrsopteris) with a single species (T. elegans), endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands.

      • Family Loxsomataceae

        Rhizomes long-creeping, hairy; leaves medium-sized to large (0.5–5 metres [about 1.5–16 feet] long), 2 times pinnately compound, the segments deeply lobed, bristly hairy; sori marginal on the underside of the segments, the sporangia on an elongated receptacle that is often partially exserted from the more or less urn-shaped indusium, the annulus slightly oblique; spores often strongly ornamented on the surface but lacking an equatorial flange or girdle; 2 genera, Loxsoma, with 1 species (L. cunninghamii) in northern New Zealand, and Loxsomopsis, with 1 species (L. pearcei) from Costa Rica to Bolivia.

      • Family Culcitaceae

        Stems variously prostrate and creeping or loosely ascending but usually not trunklike, hairy, sometimes with a mantle of roots; leaves large (up to 3 metres [almost 10 feet]), 4 to 5 times pinnately compound; sori marginal on the underside of the segments, the indusia unequally 2-lobed or of 2 separate flaps, more or less cup-shaped, the sporangia mixed with paraphyses, the annulus slightly oblique; spores 3-angled, the surface finely pitted or wrinkled to nearly smooth; 1 genus (Culcita) with 2 or more species that are widely distributed, mostly in tropical regions.

      • Family Plagiogyriaceae

        Rhizomes creeping or, more commonly, erect, the tip (and young leaves) covered with mucilage from secretory hairs; leaves 1 time pinnately compound, the petiole bases swollen, dimorphic, the fertile fronds contracted and bearing dense sporangia on the undersurface; the annulus slightly oblique; spores 3-angled, the surface usually with coarse tubercles; 1 genus (Plagiogyria) with about 15 species, distributed in tropical regions.

      • Family Cibotiaceae

        Rhizomes massive, creeping to erect and often trunklike (up to 6 metres [almost 20 feet]), with soft yellow hairs toward the tip; leaves large (up to 4 metres [13 feet]), 2 or 3 times pinnately compound, the segments often deeply lobed; sori marginal, the indusium of 2 unequal flaps fused basally, the sporangia sometimes mixed with paraphyses, the annulus slightly oblique; spores 3-angled, the surface slightly to strongly ridged, also with a prominent equatorial flange or girdle; 1 genus (Cibotium) with about 11 species, distributed in tropical regions.

      • Family Dicksoniaceae (hairy tree ferns)

        Stems mostly erect and trunklike (up to 10 metres [about 33 feet]) or, less commonly, smaller, hairy near the tip and usually with a mantle of roots; leaves mostly large (up to 3.5 metres [11.5 feet]), 2 to 3 times pinnately compound, the segments sometimes deeply lobed, hairy, at least on the petioles; sori in various positions on the leaf undersurface, the sporangia on an usually short receptacle, often mixed with paraphyses, the indusium absent or unequally 2-valved to cup-shaped, the annulus slightly to moderately oblique; spores variously and usually strongly ornamented on the surface but lacking an equatorial flange or girdle; 3 genera (Calochlaena, Dicksonia, and Lophosoria) with about 30 modern species, widely distributed in tropical regions but not occurring natively in Africa.

      • Family Metaxyaceae

        Rhizomes not trunklike, short-creeping or ascending, somewhat flattened, hairy, at least near the tip, the relatively dense roots not forming a mantle; leaves 1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 feet) long, 1 time pinnately compound, the leaflets unlobed, sori scattered on the undersurface of the leaflets, round, lacking an indusium, the sporangia mixed with paraphyses, the annulus slightly oblique; spores globose, finely sculptured, lacking an equatorial flange or girdle; 1 genus and 2 species (Metaxya rostrata and M. lanosa), of low elevations in the Neotropics, particularly the Amazonian region.

    • Order Polypodiales (known as Filicales in some older literature)

      • Suborder Lindsaeineae

        • Family Lindsaeaceae (lace ferns)

          Plants mostly in soil or on rocks; rhizomes short- to long-creeping, hairy or scaly; leaves 1 to 3 times pinnately compound, usually glabrous, sori marginal or submarginal, the indusium either lateral and opening toward the margin or the sori protected by a reflexed segment margin; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores mostly trilete (tetrahedral-globose); about 7 genera and 200 species, distributed in tropical regions.

        • Family Cystodinaceae

          Plants similar in appearance to a small tree fern; 1 genus with a single species (Cystodium sorbifolium); distributed in lowland rainforests in insular Southeast Asia.

        • Family Lonchitidaceae

          Plants have a Neotropical distribution; 1 genus (Lonchitis) with about 30 species.

      • Suborder Saccolomatineae

        • Family Saccolomataceae

          Plants mostly in soil; rhizomes short-creeping to erect, sometimes appearing as short trunks, scaly; leaves 1 to 5 times pinnately compound, mostly glabrous; sori marginal or submarginal, the indusium pouchlike, opening toward the margin; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores trilete (tetrahedral-globose); 1 genus with about 12 species, distributed in tropical regions.

      • Suborder Dennstaedtiineae

        • Family Dennstaedtiaceae (cup ferns, bracken)

          Plants mostly in soil, occasionally climbing; rhizomes mostly very long-creeping (to more than 100 metres [330 feet], in Pteridium), hairy; leaves 2 to 4 times pinnately compound, glabrous or hairy; sori mostly marginal or submarginal, discrete or in a more or less uninterrupted line, the indusium cup-shaped or lateral and elongate, sometimes also with the segment margin reflexed; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores mostly trilete (tetrahedral-globose); about 11 genera with about 160 species, distributed nearly worldwide but most diverse in tropical regions.

      • Suborder Pteridineae

        • Family Pteridaceae

          Plants in soil, on rocks, epiphytic or aquatic; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, usually scaly; leaves entire to highly divided, pinnately or, less commonly, palmately or pedately so, occasionally the vegetative and fertile leaves dimorphic (the fertile ones with reduced laminar tissue), glabrous or, more commonly, with hairs, scales, or farina (powdery white or coloured deposit); sori variously positioned, discrete, in lines or bands, or, less commonly, covering the undersurface, the indusium usually absent, but in marginal sori the segment margin often reflexed; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores trilete (tetrahedral-globose) or, uncommonly, monolete (more or less bean-shaped); about 50 genera with about 950 species, distributed nearly worldwide. The family is quite variable morphologically and has been divided into as many as 5–8 subfamilies.

      • Suborder Aspleniineae

        • Family Aspleniaceae

          Plants in soil, on rocks, or epiphytic; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, usually scaly, the scales usually clathrate (the cells with dark adjoining walls and clear lateral walls); leaves entire or lobed to highly pinnately divided, rarely dichotomously divided, glabrous or with inconspicuous hairs, rarely scaly; sori elongate along the veins, oblong to linear, usually discrete, the indusium usually lateral; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 1–10 genera (depending on how much Asplenium is divided) with about 800 species, distributed nearly worldwide.

        • Family Athyriaceae(lady ferns)

          Plants in soil or on rocks; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, scaly; leaves 1 to 4 times pinnately divided, glabrous, hairy, glandular, or occasionally scaly; sori round or elongate along the veins, sometimes back to back along a vein or curved around a vein ending (J-shaped), the indusia absent or variously linear to oblong, kidney-shaped, cup-shaped, or dissected into slender filaments; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 2 genera (about 180 in the genus Athyrium).

        • Family Blechnaceae (chain ferns)

          Plants in soil or on rocks, less commonly epiphytic, rarely climbing; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect (occasionally trunklike), scaly; leaves 1 time pinnately compound or lobed, less commonly 2 times pinnately compound, rarely entire, sometimes the vegetative and fertile leaves strongly dimorphic (the fertile ones with reduced laminar tissue), glabrous or, less commonly, hairy; sori oblong to elongate, often attached along one side of the areole formed by a network of veins, often appearing as a band or chain on each side of the segment midrib, the indusia lateral and linear to oblong, opening toward the midrib; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); about 24 genera with about 265 species (about 150 in the largest genus, Blechnum), distributed nearly worldwide but most diverse in tropical regions.

        • Family Cystopteridaceae

          Plants are small or medium-sized; leaves are thin; sori are small, round, and naked; 3 genera (Acystopteris, Cystopteris, and Gymnocarpium).

        • Family Desmophlebiaceae

          Plants have a thickened vein inside the edge of each compound leaflet; 1 genus (Desmophlebium) with 2 species.

        • Family Diplaziopsidaceae

          Plants medium to large in soil or on rocks; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, scaly; leaves pinnately divided, glabrous, hairy, glandular, or occasionally scaly; sori round or elongate along the veins; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 2 genera (Diplaziopsis and the monotypic Homalosorus).

        • Family Hemidictyaceae

          Plants with a Neotropical distribution; veins are netted only halfway each leaflet across the pinnules, family consists of a single species (Hemidictyum marginatum).

        • Family Onocleaceae

          Plants in soil; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect (occasionally trunklike in Onocleopsis), scaly, sometimes with runners; leaves strongly dimorphic, the vegetative leaves one time pinnately compound, the leaflets sometimes deeply lobed, the fertile leaves one to three times pinnately compound, with contracted laminar tissue, the margins of the segments rolling inward at maturity to enclose the sporangia, the whole leaf often becoming a brown and hardened overwintering resting structure at maturity (except in Onocleopsis), glabrous or hairy; sori round, the indusia asymmetrically cup-shaped to more or less globose, rarely absent; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped to globose), green; 4 genera with 5 species, distributed mostly in temperate regions (Neotropical in Onocleopsis).

        • Family Rhachidosoraceae

          1 genus (Rhachidosorus) with about 7 species.

        • Family Thelypteridaceae

          Plants in soil or, less commonly, on rocks; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, scaly; leaves mostly 1 or 2 times pinnately divided, rarely highly divided, most commonly with slender needlelike hairs (these sometimes also on rhizomes, indusia, or sporangia), occasionally also with scattered scales or glabrous; sori round or elongate along the veins, the indusia absent or kidney-shaped; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 30 genera (depending on how much Thelypteris is divided) with 900 species, found nearly worldwide.

        • Family Woodsiaceae

          Plants in soil or on rocks; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or erect, scaly; leaves 1 to 4 times pinnately divided, glabrous, hairy, glandular, or occasionally scaly; sori round or elongate along the veins, sometimes back to back along a vein or curved around a vein ending (J-shaped), the indusia absent or variously linear to oblong, kidney-shaped, cup-shaped, or dissected into slender filaments; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); about 1 genus (Woodsia) with about 40 species.

      • Suborder Polypodiineae

        • Family Davalliaceae rabbit’s-foot fern

          Plants epiphytic or sometimes on rocks; rhizomes long-creeping, often somewhat flattened, scaly; leaves 1 to 4 times pinnately divided, rarely undivided, the petioles jointed at their bases, the blades glabrous or, less commonly, hairy; sori round, rarely elongate along the segment margin, the indusia cup-shaped or kidney-shaped, rarely elongate; sporangia mixed with hairlike paraphyses, the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 1 genus (Davallia) with about 40 species, distributed in tropical and warm temperate regions.

        • Family Didymochlaenaceae

          1 genus with a single species (Didymochlaena truncatula).

        • Family Dryopteridaceae

          Plants in soil, on rocks, or epiphytic; rhizomes short- to long-creeping or ascending to erect, scaly; leaves entire or 1 to 4 times pinnately divided, the vegetative and fertile leaves or leaflets occasionally dimorphic, glabrous, hairy, glandular, or scaly; sori round or densely covering the undersurface, the indusia absent or umbrella-shaped to kidney-shaped; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 45 genera with about 1,700 species, the largest genera, Dryopteris (log fern, about 250 species), Polystichum (shield fern, about 250 species), and Elaphoglossum (tongue fern, 600–700 species), distributed nearly worldwide.

        • Family Hypodematiaceae

          Small family of 2 genera, Hypodematium (about 20 species) and Leucostegia (2 species).

        • Family Lomariopsidaceae

          Plants in soil, on rocks, or climbing (hemiepiphytic); rhizomes short- to long-creeping, sometimes with runners, scaly; leaves mostly 1 time pinnately compound, the leaflets often jointed to the axis, glabrous, hairy, or scaly; sori round, the indusia absent or kidney-shaped; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 4 genera (Cyclopeltis, Dracoglossum, Dryopolystichum, and Lomariopsis) with about 70 species, widely distributed in tropical regions.

        • Family Nephrolepidaceae

          Plants widely distributed in tropical regions and sometimes cultivated as ornamental sword ferns; 1 genus (Nephrolepis) with about 30 species; formerly placed in Lomariopsidaceae.

        • Family Oleandraceae

          Plants in soil, on rock, or climbing (hemiepiphytic); rhizomes long-creeping, sometimes with elongate, ascending, or climbing branches, scaly; leaves undivided, the petioles jointed to short, persistent stubs (phyllopodia) along the rhizomes, the blades scaly; sori round, the indusia kidney-shaped to nearly U-shaped; sporangia mixed with hairlike paraphyses, the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 1 genus (Oleandra) with about 40 species, widely distributed, mostly in tropical regions.

        • Family Polypodiaceae (polypodies)

          Plants epiphytic, on rock, or occasionally in soil; rhizomes mostly long-creeping, sometimes somewhat flattened, scaly, the scales often clathrate (the cells with dark adjoining walls and clear lateral walls); leaves undivided or 1 time pinnately lobed or compound, rarely more divided, sometimes the vegetative and fertile leaves dimorphic, the petioles often jointed to short, persistent stubs (phyllopodia) along the rhizomes, the blades glabrous, hairy, or scaly; sori round or oblong to elliptic, rarely elongate or covering the undersurface, lacking indusia, but sometimes covered with overlapping scales when young; sporangia sometimes mixed with paraphyses, the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped) and often golden yellow, or trilete (more or less globose) and green; about 65 genera, including Polypodium (polypody), Lepisorus and Pleopeltis (scaly polypodies), Phlebodium (hare’s foot fern), Campyloneurum (strap fern), Microgramma (vine fern), Pyrrosia (felt fern), Drynaria (oak-leaf fern), and Platycerium (staghorn fern), with about 1,650 total species. Grammitis and some 3–15 segregate genera (about 700 species) with green trilete spores and often characteristic dark hairs formerly classified in Grammitidaceae are now considered a specialized subgroup of Polypodiaceae.

        • Family Tectariaceae

          Plants in soil or on rocks; rhizomes mostly short-creeping or ascending, scaly; leaves undivided or 1 or 2 times pinnately compound, rarely highly divided, glabrous or hairy, the hairs often appearing minute and jointed; sori round, the indusia absent, umbrella-shaped to kidney-shaped, or dissected into slender filaments; sporangia with the annulus vertical; spores monolete (more or less bean-shaped); 7genera with about 230 species widely distributed in tropical regions.

Critical appraisal

The classification of ferns has been in a state of flux over the past several decades, but advances in molecular data have resulted in the first phylogenetically based system of classification at the family, order, and class levels. In 2016 the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group published their first scientific consensus of fern and lycophyte phylogeny, known as PPG I. Within some families, the circumscription of genera remains controversial.

The class Polypodiopsida contains four subclasses of vascular plants that reproduce by spores without the production of seeds. In addition to Polypodiidae (the true ferns as traditionally understood), the class includes the subclasses Equisetdae, Marattiidae, and Ophioglossidae, which in some earlier classifications were considered “fern allies” (an expression that has fallen out of favour) rather than true ferns. The class Lycopodiopsida, or lycophytes, consisting of three families, Lycopodiaceae (club mosses), Isoetaceae (quillworts), and Selaginellaceae (spike mosses), formerly included in the fern allies, are now considered the most primitive vascular plants and only distantly related to the ferns.