Nature Atlas

How Nature Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Group

True Ferns (Polypodiopsida)

This group gathers Ferns and Fern Allies subcategory members belonging to the class Polypodiopsida, the true ferns, by far the largest and most diverse group of ferns, found in nearly every terrestrial habitat on Earth except the driest deserts and permanent ice. It spans familiar temperate woodland species with the broad, finely divided fronds most people picture when they think of a fern, ferns adapted to open, sunny habitats with tougher, more upright fronds, and epiphytic species that grow attached to tree trunks and branches rather than rooted in soil. Nearly every true fern reproduces through microscopic spores released from structures called sori on the underside of the frond rather than through seeds or flowers, and most unfurl new fronds from a tightly coiled shape called a fiddlehead or crozier, a growth pattern found in ferns and their relatives but in essentially no flowering plant.

Facts
Comparison
Taxonomic Rank Order
5 1
Reproductive Mode
Spores 2
True Ferns (Polypodiopsida)
Filter Results82 entries

Adder's Tongue Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris

Ferns and Fern Allies

Alpine Woodsia

Ferns and Fern Allies

American Climbing Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Asplenium Nidus

Ferns and Fern Allies

Autumn Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Bird's Nest Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Black Spleenwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Blechnum Novae-zelandiae

Ferns and Fern Allies

Boston Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Bracken

Ferns and Fern Allies

Brittle Bladder Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Broad Beech Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Broad Buckler-fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Bulblet Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Ceratopteris Richardii

Ferns and Fern Allies

Christmas Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Cinnamon Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Common Polypody

Ferns and Fern Allies

Coral Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Crested Wood Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Cretan Brake

Ferns and Fern Allies

Deer Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Diplazium Esculentum

Ferns and Fern Allies

Ebony Spleenwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Elkhorn Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

European Chain Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Forked Spleenwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Giant Chain Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Golden Polypody

Ferns and Fern Allies

Green Spleenwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Hard Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Hart's Tongue Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Hay-scented Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Interrupted Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Japanese Climbing Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Japanese Holly Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Japanese Painted Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Kangaroo Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Killarney Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

King Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Lady Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Lake Quillwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Licorice Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Log Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Maidenhair Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Male Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Marattia Salicina

Ferns and Fern Allies

Marginal Wood Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Marsh Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Moonwort

Ferns and Fern Allies

Mother Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Narrow Buckler-fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Netted Chain Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

New York Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Northern Beech Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Oak Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Old World Climbing Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Ophioglossum Vulgatum

Ferns and Fern Allies

Osmunda japonica

Ferns and Fern Allies

Ostrich Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Parsley Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Pteridium Aquilinum

Ferns and Fern Allies

Purple Cliffbrake

Ferns and Fern Allies

Rabbit's Foot Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Rattlesnake Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Resurrection Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Royal Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Rusty Woodsia

Ferns and Fern Allies

Rustyback Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Rusty-back Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Sensitive Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Soft Shield-fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Southern Maidenhair Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Staghorn Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Tunbridge Filmy Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Virginia Chain Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Walking Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Wall-rue

Ferns and Fern Allies

Western Sword Fern

Ferns and Fern Allies

Woodsia Ilvensis

Ferns and Fern Allies
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Taxonomic rank
WikipediaTaxonomic rank, Fundamental ranks section, rank sequence sentence, group 517660
Quote, Taxonomic rank, Fundamental ranks section, rank sequence sentence, group 517660
kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus, and species
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Fern
WikipediaFern, lead section, group 517660
Quote, Fern, lead section, group 517660
Ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.