The ferns are a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissues that conduct water and nutrients and in having life cycles in which the branched sporophyte is the dominant phase.
Isoetes, commonly known as the quillworts, is a genus of lycopod. It is the only living genus in the family Isoetaceae and order Isoetales. There are currently 192 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution mostly in aquatic habitats but with the individual species often scarce to rare. Some botanists split the genus, separating two South American species into the genus Stylites, although molecular data place these species among other species of Isoetes, so that Stylites does not warrant taxonomic recognition. Species virtually identical to modern quillworts have existed since the Jurassic epoch, though the timing of the origin of modern Isoetes is subject to considerable uncertainty.
Ophioglossaceae, the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is the only family in the order Ophioglossales, which together with the Psilotales is placed in the subclass Ophioglossidae. The Ophioglossidae are one of the groups traditionally known as eusporangiate ferns. Members of the family differ from other ferns in a number of ways. Many have only a single fleshy leaf at a time. Their gametophytes are subterranean and rely on fungi for energy.
Lygodium is a genus of about 40 species of ferns, native to tropical regions across the world, with a few temperate species in eastern Asia and eastern North America. It is the sole genus in the family Lygodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. Alternatively, the genus may be placed as the only genus in the subfamily Lygodioideae of a more broadly defined family Schizaeaceae, the family placement used in Plants of the World Online as of November 2019. Per recent molecular evidence, Lygodiaceae is thought to have diverged relatively early from the other members of the Schizaeales due to the relatively high level of synonymous sequence divergence between the families within the Schizaeales.
The genus Ophioderma are distinctive ferns in the family Ophioglossaceae. Ophioderma is closely related to, and sometimes treated as a subgenus of, the genus Ophioglossum. It includes the genus formerly known as Cheiroglossa. Recent genetic analysis has indicated that the two genera should be treated as one, and Ophioderma has precedence by being validly published at an earlier date. The type species is Ophioderma pendulum.
Ophioglossum azoricum, the small adder's-tongue fern or lesser adder's-tongue fern, is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae.
Botrypus virginianus, synonym Botrychium virginianum, sometimes called rattlesnake fern is a species of perennial fern in the adders-tongue family. It is monotypic within the genus Botrypus, meaning that it is the only species within the genus. It is called the rattlesnake fern in some parts of North America, due to its habit of growing in places where rattlesnakes are also found. Rattlesnake fern prefers to grow in rich, moist woods in dense shade and will not tolerate direct sunlight.
The Hymenophyllaceae, the filmy ferns and bristle ferns, are a family of two to nine genera and about 650 known species of ferns, with a subcosmopolitan distribution, but generally restricted to very damp places or to locations where they are wetted by spray from waterfalls or springs. A recent fossil find shows that ferns of Hymenophyllaceae have existed since at least the Upper Triassic.
Alsophila is a genus of tree ferns in the family Cyatheaceae. It has also been considered to be a section in the subgenus Cyathea of the genus Cyathea.
The fern flower is a magic flower in Baltic mythology, in Estonian mythology and in Slavic mythology.
Argyrochosma is a genus of ferns known commonly as false cloak ferns. The genus is included in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. Species now in this genus were previously treated as members of related genera Notholaena or Pellaea but were segregated into their own genus in 1987. These ferns, of which there are about 20 species, are mostly native to the Americas, from North to South and including the Caribbean, while one species, A. connectens, is known from Sichuan, China. They are commonly found growing in cracks between rocks. Their leaves are generally shorter than 40 cm (16 in) and have rounded bluish or grayish green segments. Often the lower surface of the segments is coated in a white dust, and the sporangia contain brown spores.
Angiopteris is a genus of huge evergreen ferns from the family Marattiaceae, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar to the South Pacific islands. Species of smaller stature with elongate synangia and creeping rhizomes are sometimes segregated into the genus Archangiopteris, and a once-pinnate monotypic segregate genus has been called Macroglossum, but molecular data supports inclusion of these taxa within a broad concept of Angiopteris.
Cheiroglossa palmata, synonyms Ophioderma palmatum and Ophioglossum palmatum, variously known as hand fern, dwarf staghorn, or hand tongue, is an epiphytic or terrestrial fern. As an epiphyte it grows in old leaf bases of the cabbage palmetto.
Sceptridium dissectum is a common fern in the family Ophioglossaceae, occurring in eastern North America. Like other plants in this group, it normally only sends up one frond per year. It has long been the subject of confusion because the frond presents in one of two forms, either the normal form that resembles other plants in the genus, or the skeletonized form.
Aglaomorpha is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Drynarioideae of the family Polypodiaceae. The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 uses this genus name, while other sources use Drynaria to include Aglaomorpha. Species are commonly known as basket ferns. As circumscribed in PPG I, the genus contains around 50 species.
Ophioglossum petiolatum is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae. William Jackson Hooker named this species in 1823.
Ophioglossum reticulatum, the netted adder's-tongue, is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae. It has a pantropical/pansubtropical distribution; Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Yemen, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, warmer parts of China, Malesia, Korea, Japan, and many tropical islands. A hexaploid, it has the highest number of chromosomes of any plant, 720. Its leaves—or leaf, individuals only grow one per year—are edible, and are regularly consumed by people in Africa and Asia.
