Pteridaceae

Terrestrial ferns. Rhizome erect or creeping, covered in bristle-like woolly hairs or scales which sometimes have a thinner, paler border. Fronds not articulated at rhizome, variable in shape and texture. Lamina variously divided, thin to leathery; veins free and forking or forming areoles without enclosed free vein endings. Sori superficial, marginal, submarginal or intramarginal, without true indusium but sometimes covered by reflexed, modified flap or leaf margin; sporangia spread along veins, clustered at ends of veins or borne on continuous vascular line connecting lateral vein endings; spores tetrahedral, spherical or bilateral.