Dryopteridaceae Herter

Plants small to large, evergreen or deciduous, terrestrial, epilithic, hemiepiphytic, or epiphytic. Rhizomes erect, ascending, creeping, or sometimes climbing, dictyostelic (mostly radially), scaly; scales basally attached or very rarely peltate, often non-clathrate but sometimes clathrate, entire or dentate. Fronds caespitose or remote from one another, with segments anadromously or catadromously arranged, or sometimes anadromous at base and catadromous distally; stipe often not articulate but sometimes articulate at base, with 3 or more vascular bundles arranged in a semicircle or circle, scaly, sulcate adaxially, not hairy or sometimes hairy; lamina monomorphic or dimorphic, usually oblong, deltoid, pentagonal, lanceolate, ovate, or linear, 1-5-pinnate, or simple, rarely imparipinnate, scaly, glandular, hairy, or glabrous; if scaly then scales bullate or flat; glands absent or present; texture thinly papery, papery, or leathery. Rachises sulcate adaxially, with or without proliferous bulbils, rarely proliferous bulbils borne at a prolonged flagelliform rachis terminal; venation pinnate and free, or variously anastomosing to form 1 to multiple rows of areoles, with or without included veinlets. Fertile fronds conform or weakly to strongly difform with sterile fronds. Sporangia usually in orbicular sori; sori terminal, subterminal, or dorsal on veins, indusiate or rarely exindusiate; if indusiate then indusia orbicular or reniform or rarely ovoid, superior, lateral, or rarely inferior, sessile or rarely stalked, entire or toothed; sometimes sporangia nearly evenly covering fertile parts abaxially (not forming orbicular sori); sporangia with 3-rowed, short to long stalks. Spores monolete, achlorophyllous, with prominent perispore. x = 41.