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Plants terrestrial, rarely epiphytic, generally small, erect, rarely large and pendulous. Rhizome erect, rarely creeping, short, glabrous or long hairy. Fronds often solitary, occasionally 2, rarely more; sterile lamina with stipe, usually simple, lanceolate, ovate, or ribbon-shaped, rarely dichotomously divided, with entire or wavy margin; midrib indistinct; veins reticulate; sporophore arising from base, near base, or middle part of sterile lamina, with long stalk. Sporangia embedded in 2 rows along margin of linear spike; spore surface irregularly reticulate, foveolate, or subsmooth.
Terrestrial or epiphytic ferns with a short erect or creeping rhizome bearing fleshy roots. Fronds 1–several, fleshy; common basal stipe erect or pendulous. Sterile lamina sessile or petiolate, simple or rarely forked or palmately lobed, reticulately veined; primary areoles usually enclosing free veinlets and sometimes secondary areoles. Sporophore simple, undivided. Sporangia subglobose, coalescent in 2 marginal rows. Spores reticulate, verrucose or pitted, yellow.
Sporangia coriac., in two close rows on unbranched axis, globose, opening transversely. Roots slender to rather thick, often proliferating, on erect fleshy to tuberous rhizome. Sterile seg. with a simple, entire lamina; fertile seg. spike-like, rarely branched. Adder's tongue. Genus widespread, the spp. very imperfectly understood.
Lvs glabrous; blade simple and entire, mostly elliptic, net-veined; sporophore unbranched, the sporangia in 2 rows, ± embedded and coherent. 30, cosmop.
Sporangia in two rows, embedded in an almost terete spike.
