Common Name: BRACKEN FAMILY
Habit: Plant terrestrial; rhizome hairy [scaly], from bud near stipe base or not. Leaf: alike, glabrous or hairy (scaly); stipe strongly grooved adaxially; blade generally 1--5-pinnate; veins pinnate from midrib, generally forked beyond, free except sometimes at margin of fertile segments. Sporangia: at or near margin, generally +- covered by false indusia; true indusium 0 or inner, linear [conical or cup-, purse- or saucer-like], opening toward margin [or fused with it to form cup]; stalk cells in 1--3 rows; spores spheric or elliptic.
Genera In Family: +- 11 genera, +- 170 species: especially tropics. Note: Variously defined, now to exclude some previously included genera, species (Smith et al. 2006); Pteridium sometimes in its own family.
eFlora Treatment Author: John C. Game, Alan R. Smith & Thomas Lemieux
Scientific Editor: Alan R. Smith, Thomas J. Rosatti.

Common Name: BRACKEN, BRAKE
Habit: Rhizome generally deep, long-creeping, branched; often forming dense stands; dead leaves persistent; scales 0. Leaf: stipe +- black near base, with dense, +- brown hairs, straw-colored above, +- glabrous; blade 2--4-pinnate, abaxially generally hairy; pinnae with nectaries in axils or not; veins free except at margin of fertile segments. Sporangia: generally continuous except at sinuses, on vein tips and veins connecting vein tips, +- covered by false indusium (sterile segment margins similarly modified); true indusium inconspicuous or 0; spores spheric.
Etymology: (Greek: small fern) Note: Often considered (e.g., by Tryon) to comprise 1 +- worldwide, highly variable sp., but especially in tropics, subtrops, species seem distinct. Plants belonging to this genus are among the most common, wide-ranging in the world, are often invasive, and regenerate quickly and vigorously after fires.
Reference: Tryon 1941 Contr Gray Herb 134:1--31, 37--67