TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

DRYOPTERIDACEAE

WOOD FERN FAMILY

Alan R. Smith and Thomas Lemieux

Perennial, in soil or rock crevices; rhizome generally short-creeping, suberect, or erect, scales large, generally tan to brown, generally 1-colored
Leaves generally tufted, 5–200+ cm, generally ± alike; petiole generally firm, base generally darker, with 2–many vascular strands; blade 1–4-pinnate, often with scales, hair-like scales, hairs (except clear, needle-like hairs generally 0), or short-stalked glands on axes, sometimes between veins, veins free to netted; 1° and 2° axes generally grooved on upper side
Sporangia: sori round, less often oblong or J-shaped, along or at tips of veins; indusia peltate, round-reniform, oblong to linear, J-shaped, hood-like, or cup-like, rarely 0; spores elliptic, winged, ridged, or spiny, scar linear
Genera in family: ± 60 genera, > 1000 species: worldwide, especially tropical, wooded areas. Woodsia sometimes in Woodsiaceae; Athyrium, Cystopteris sometimes in Athyriaceae.