Below are lists of extant fern families and subfamilies using the classification scheme proposed by the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group in 2016 (PPG I). [1] The scheme is based on molecular phylogenetic studies, and also draws on earlier classifications, [1] particularly those by Smith et al. (2006), [2] Chase and Reveal (2009), [3] and Christenhusz et al. (2011). [4] It rejects the very broad circumscription of some families used by Christenhusz and Chase (2014), whose Aspleniaceae corresponds to the entire suborder Aspleniineae of PPG I. [1] [5]
Thelypteridaceae is a family of about 900 species of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae. Alternatively, the family may be submerged in a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae as the subfamily Thelypteridoideae.
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.
Pteris (brake) is a genus of about 300 species of ferns in the subfamily Pteridoideae of the family Pteridaceae. They are native to tropical and subtropical regions, southward to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, north to Japan and North America. 78 species are found in China. Some species of Pteris have considerable economic and ecological value, such as Pteris multifida, Pteris ensiformis, Pteris vittata can be used for ornamental purposes; as a hyperaccumulator, Pteris multifida and Pteris vittata can be used to control soil pollution.
The Dryopteridaceae are a family of leptosporangiate ferns in the order Polypodiales. They are known colloquially as the wood ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Polypodiineae. Alternatively, it may be treated as the subfamily Dryopteridoideae of a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae sensu lato.
Polypodiaceae is a family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, the family includes around 65 genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder Polypodiineae. A broader circumscription has also been used, in which the family includes other families kept separate in PPG I. Nearly all species are epiphytes, but some are terrestrial.
Blechnaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Its status as a family and the number of genera included have both varied considerably. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, the family has 24 genera, and excludes genera placed in the separate family Onocleaceae. The family is divided into three subfamilies, including Blechnoideae s.s. Alternatively, the entire family may be treated as the subfamily Blechnoideae s.l. of a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae, and include genera others place in Onocleaceae.
Phlegmariurus is a genus of lycophyte plants in the family Lycopodiaceae. The genus is recognized in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources, which keep it in a broadly defined Huperzia.
Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera, divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recognized as separate families: the adiantoid, cheilanthoid, pteridoid, and hemionitidoid ferns. Relationships among these groups remain unclear, and although some recent genetic analyses of the Pteridales suggest that neither the family Pteridaceae nor the major groups within it are all monophyletic, as yet these analyses are insufficiently comprehensive and robust to provide good support for a revision of the order at the family level.
Aleuritopteris is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. As with some other genera of the Cheilanthoideae, molecular phylogenetic studies have suggested that it is not monophyletic, and so may need to be circumscribed differently in future.
Campyloneurum is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). They are commonly known as strap ferns.
Leptochilus is a fern genus in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).
Woodsiaceae is a family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae. The family can also be treated as the subfamily Woodsioideae of a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae sensu lato. In PPG I, the family contained only one genus, Woodsia. In 2020, Physematium was split off from Woodsia on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence. As of June 2023, Plants of the World Online continued to treat Physematium as a synonym of Woodsia.
Lindsaeaceae is a pantropical family of ferns in the order Polypodiales. It contains six or seven genera with about 220 known species, some of which also extend into the more temperate regions of eastern Asia, New Zealand, and South America.
Deparia is a genus of ferns. The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 places the genus in the family Athyriaceae, although other sources include it within an expanded Aspleniaceae or Woodsiaceae.
Microsoroideae is a subfamily in the fern family Polypodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The subfamily is also treated as the tribe Microsoreae within a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae sensu lato. In either treatment, it includes the previously separated tribe Lepisoreae.
Grammitidoideae is a subfamily of the fern family Polypodiaceae, whose members are informally known as grammitids. It comprises a clade of about 750 species. They are distributed over higher elevations in both the Old and New World. This group was previously treated as a separate family, Grammitidaceae until molecular phylogenies showed it to be nested within the Polypodiaceae. It has since been treated as an unranked clade within subfamily Polypodioideae, and, most recently, as a separate subfamily.
Hemidictyum is a genus of ferns with a single species, Hemidictyum marginatum, commonly known as the marginated half net fern. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is the only genus in the family Hemidictyaceae. Alternatively, the family, along with Aspleniaceae sensu stricto, may be placed in a much more broadly defined family Aspleniaceae as the subfamily Asplenioideae.
Diplaziopsidaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae, and includes two genera. Alternatively, it may be treated as the subfamily Diplaziopsidoideae of a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae.
Lindsaeineae is a suborder of ferns (Polypodiopsida), order Polypodiales, created by the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (2016). It consists of two monogeneric families plus the larger Lindsaeaceae with seven genera, and the suborder contains about 237 species overall. It corresponds to Lindsaeaceae sensu Smith 2016.
The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the classification of pteridophytes that reflects knowledge about plant relationships discovered through phylogenetic studies. In 2016, the group published a classification for extant pteridophytes, termed "PPG I". The paper had 94 authors.