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.
Asplenium platyneuron, commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy stipe and rachis, which support a once-divided, pinnate leaf. The fertile fronds, which die off in the winter, are darker green and stand upright, while the sterile fronds are evergreen and lie flat on the ground. An auricle at the base of each pinna points towards the tip of the frond. The dimorphic fronds and alternate, rather than opposite, pinnae distinguish it from the similar black-stemmed spleenwort.
Platycerium is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Ferns in this genus are widely known as staghorn or elkhorn ferns due to their uniquely shaped fronds. This genus is epiphytic and is native to tropical and temperate areas of South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Guinea.
Pleopeltis polypodioides, common name resurrection fern, is a species of creeping, coarse-textured fern native to the Americas and Africa.
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.
Davallia is a genus of about 40 species of fern. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is the only genus in the family Davalliaceae, which is placed in the suborder Polypodiineae, order Polypodiales. Alternatively, the family may be placed in a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae sensu lato as the subfamily Davallioideae.
Aglaomorpha fortunei, commonly known as gu-sui-bu, is a species of basket fern of the family Polypodiaceae. The plant is native to Eastern Asia, including eastern China.
Phlebodium is a small genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Its species were formerly included in Polypodium.
Grammitis is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It had formerly been placed in the family Grammitidaceae, but this family is no longer recognized by most authors because phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences have shown that it is embedded in Polypodiaceae.
Polypodium abitaguae is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Polypodium vulgare, the common polypody, is an evergreen fern of the family Polypodiaceae. The name is derived from Greek poly- ("many") and pous, podos ("foot"). Polypody has traditional uses in cooking for its aroma and sweet taste, and in herbal medicine as a purgative and vermifuge. This species is expansive and highly adapted to many environments.
Zealandia pustulata is a species of fern native to eastern Australia and New Zealand. It is commonly referred to as 'kangaroo fern' or 'kangaroo paw fern' as its native range includes Australia and the shape of its mature foliage tends to resemble the shape of a kangaroo's foot. It is also referred to as 'hound's tongue', and as kōwaowao and pāraharaha in the Māori language.
Acrostichum is a fern genus in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. It was one of the original pteridophyte genera delineated by Linnaeus. It was originally drawn very broadly, including all ferns that had sori apparently "acrostichoid", or distributed in a uniform mass across the back of the frond, rather than organized in discrete sori. This led Linnaeus to include such species as Asplenium platyneuron in the genus, because the specimen he received had sori so crowded that it appeared acrostichoid.
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.
Polypodioideae is a subfamily belonging to the fern family Polypodiaceae, which is a member of the suborder Polypodiineae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Alternatively, the subfamily may be treated as the tribe Polypodieae within a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae sensu lato.
Gleichenia polypodioides (L.) Sm., commonly known as coral fern, kystervaring or ystervaring due to its glabrous, brown, wiry stipes. The species is widespread in south- and east tropical Africa, southern Africa and the western Indian Ocean region. It occurs naturally in a broad coastal belt in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Malawi, Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Réunion, Amsterdam Island and Madagascar, and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771 under the name Onoclea polypodioides. Often forming dense and impenetrable thickets, sometimes over large areas, this rhizomatous perennial is an important pioneer in disturbed areas such as pine plantations. It is often mistakenly seen as an exotic invader rather than as a useful rehabilitation plant, a source of peat and growing medium, while showing exceptional resistance to herbicides.
Rhizome brown, 1–2.5 mm. in diam., creeping, with long-spined dark-brown scales up to 0.5 mm. in diam., with fronds spaced 2–20 cm. apart. Stipe castaneous, up to 60 cm. long and up to 1.5 mm. in diam., glabrous or with a few scales similar to those on the rhizome, shallowly sulcate. Frond bifurcate to reniform-lunate in outline, with 1 level of false dichotomy in each lateral branch system arising from each side of the terminal bud; all branches bearing distant foliar segments. Aborted apical buds up to 1.2 mm. long, clothed in dark-brown lanceolate laciniate scales. Pinnules linear, up to 7 x 0.75 cm., pinnate, usually glabrous, divided into sessile rounded entire triangular lobes, 3 x 2 mm., green to glaucous below. Sori partially immersed in the lamina, consisting of 2–4 sporangia, each in a separate but adjoining pit.
Polypodium cambricum, the southern polypody, limestone polypody, or Welsh polypody, is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae, native to southern and western Europe where it grows on shady rocks, near the coasts of the Mediterranean Basin and in the mountains of Atlantic Europe. It is a spreading, terrestrial, deciduous fern growing to 60 centimetres (24 in) tall, with pinnate fronds. The sori are yellow in winter.
Dipteris is a genus of about seven species of ferns, native to tropical regions across the world, particularly Asia, with a species in northeastern Queensland in Australia. It is one of two genera in the family Dipteridaceae.
Polypodium is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest species diversity in the tropics. The name is derived from Ancient Greek poly ("many") + podion, on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. They are commonly called polypodies or rockcap ferns, but for many species unique vernacular names exist.
Phlebodium areolatum, the Virginia blue fern, is a species of epiphytic fern in the family Polypodiaceae. It is native to the New World Tropics and Subtropics; Mexico, Florida, some of the Caribbean islands, Central America, and South America to Argentina, and has been introduced to India. As its synonym Phlebodium pseudoaureum it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
