science

Pteridaceae

Pteridaceae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pteridaceae rather than just read about it. In short: Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recognized as separate families: the adiantoid, cheilanthoid, pteridoid, and hemionitidoid ferns.

Key takeaways

Pteridaceae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pteridaceae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pteridaceae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recognized as separate families: the adiantoid, cheilanthoid, pteridoid, and hemionitidoid ferns. Relationships among these groups remain unclear, and although some recent genetic analyses of the Pteridales suggest that neither the family Pteridaceae nor the major groups within it are all monophyletic, as yet these analyses are insufficiently comprehensive and robust to provide good support for a revision of the order at the family level.

Description Members of Pteridaceae have creeping or erect rhizomes. The leaves are almost always compound and have linear sori that are typically on the margins of the leaves and lack a true indusium, typically being protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed margin of the leaf.

Taxonomy

Traditional groups

As traditionally defined, the groups within Pteridaceae are as follows:

Adiantoid ferns (tribe Adianteae Gaudich. 1829); epipetric, terrestrial or epiphytic in moist habitats, rachis often dichotomously branching; sori relatively small and discrete with sporangia born on the false indusium rather than the leaf blade proper; only one genus: Adiantum L. – maidenhair ferns Cheilanthoid ferns; primarily epipetric in semiarid habitats; leaves mostly with well-developed scales or trichomes, often bipinnate or otherwise highly compound; sporangia mostly born in marginal sori with false indusia that are ± continuous around the leaf margins; several genera, including: Argyrochosma (J.Sm.) Windham – false cloak ferns Aspidotis (Nutt. ex Hook.) Copel. – lace ferns Astrolepis D.M.Benham & Windham – cloak ferns Cheilanthes Sw. – lip ferns Myriopteris Fée – lace lip ferns Notholaena R.Br. – cloak ferns Pellaea Link – cliff brakes Pteridoid ferns (tribe Pterideae J. Sm 1841); terrestrial and epipetric in moist habitats; leaves mostly without prominent scales or trichomes, most often pinnate but sometimes more compound; sporangia born in marginal sori with false indusia that are ± continuous around the leaf margins; several genera, including: Pteris L. – brakes Onychium Kaulf. Parkerioid ferns (tribe Parkerieae Brongn. 1843); aquatic in swamps and/or mangroves, including: Acrostichum L. – leather ferns Ceratopteris Brongn. Hemionitidoid ferns; terrestrial, epipetric or epiphytic in moist or semiarid habitats; leaves simple, pinnate, or more compound; sporangia born in linear non-marginal, exindusiate sori or sometimes in marginal sori; several genera, including: Anogramma Link Cryptogramma R.Br. – rock brakes Eriosorus Fée Hemionitis L. Jamesonia Hook. & Grev. Pityrogramma Link – gold ferns Vittarioid ferns (tribe Vittarieae C. Presl 1836); primarily epiphytic in tropical regions and all have simple leaves with sori that follow the veins and lack true indusia: Anetium Splitg. 1840 Antrophyum Kaulf. 1875 Hecistopteris (L.) Sm. 1842 Monogramma Comm. ex Schkuhr 1809 Vittaria (L.) Sm. 1793 – Shoestring fern

Subfamilies Based on phylogenetic research, Christenhusz et al. (2011) divided the Pteridaceae genera into five subfamilies. These roughly correspond with the groups listed above, with the main difference being that adiantoid and vittarioid ferns are combined under the Vittarioideae subfamily name. The approach was followed by the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).

Cryptogrammoideae S.Linds.

Genera: Coniogramme, Cryptogramma, Llavea Parkerioideae (J.Sm.) R.M.Tryon

Genera: Acrostichum, Ceratopteris Pteridoideae C.Chr. ex Crabbe, Jermy & Mickel Genera: Actiniopteris, Anogramma, Austrogramme, Cerosora, Cosentinia, Gastoniella, Jamesonia (incl. Eriosorus and Nephopteris), Onychium, Pityrogramma, Pteris (incl. Neurocallis & Platyzoma), Pterozonium, Syngramma, Taenitis, Tryonia Cheilanthoideae W.C.Shieh

Genera: Adiantopsis, Aleuritopteris, Allosorus, Argyrochosma, Aspidotis, Astrolepis, Bommeria, Calciphilopteris, Cheilanthes, Cheiloplecton, Doryopteris, Gaga, Hemionitis, Lytoneuron, Mildella, Myriopteris, Notholaena, Ormopteris, Paragymnopteris, Parahemionitis, Pellaea, Pentagramma, Trachypteris Vittarioideae (C.Presl) Crabbe, Jermy & Mickel

Genera: Adiantum, Ananthacorus, Antrophyopsis, Antrophyum, Haplopteris, Hecistopteris, Polytaenium, Radiovittaria, Rheopteris, Scoliosorus, Vaginularia, Vittaria

Phylogenic relationships Smith et al. (2006) carried out the first higher-level pteridophyte classification published in the molecular phylogenetic era. Smith referred to the ferns as monilophytes, dividing them into four groups. The vast majority of ferns were placed in the Polypodiopsida. In 2016, the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group divided order Polypodiales into six suborders. Pteridaceae is the sole family in suborder Pteridiineae, with 52 genera. The suborder has the same circumscription as Smith et al. used for the family. The phylogenetic relationship between these six suborders is shown in this cladogram:

The oldest fossil of the family is Heinrichsia from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber of Myanmar, which cannot be assigned to modern grouping of the family. Molecular clock evidence suggests a diversification of the family during the Late Cretaceous. Phylogeny of Pteridaceae.

Distribution and habitat Mostly terrestrial or epipetric (growing on rock).

References

Bibliography

External links Tree of Life: Pteridaceae Data related to Pteridaceae at Wikispecies

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pteridaceae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pteridaceae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pteridaceae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pteridaceae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pteridaceae

In research: Pteridaceae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pteridaceae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pteridaceae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fern families, Polypodiales, Pteridaceae, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pteridaceae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pteridaceae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pteridaceae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pteridaceae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pteridaceae in simple terms?

Why does Pteridaceae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pteridaceae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pteridaceae.