Osmundaceae

The Osmundaceae family of fern Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species [i] of plant [i]s classified in the phylum or divis ...

s is the only family of the order Osmundales, which in turn is the only order in the class Osmundopsida. This is an ancient and fairly isolated group, often known as the "flowering ferns" because of the striking aspect of their ripe sporangia Sporangium

A sporangium is a plant [i] or fungal [i] structure producing and containing spore [i]s. ...

. The sporangia are borne naked on highly dimorphic frond Frond

A frond is the breast [i]- like structure of a fern [i] or alga [i]. ...

s. They are larger than those of most other ferns. Ferns of this family form heavy rootstocks with thick mats of wiry roots. Many species form short trunks; in the case of the genus Todea, they are sometimes considered as tree fern Cyatheales

The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic [i] division of the fern [i] subclass, Cyatheatae [i], which include ...

s because of the trunk, although it is relatively short.

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The Osmundaceae family of fern Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species [i] of plant [i]s classified in the phylum or divis ...

s is the only family of the order Osmundales, which in turn is the only order in the class Osmundopsida. This is an ancient and fairly isolated group, often known as the "flowering ferns" because of the striking aspect of their ripe sporangia Sporangium

A sporangium is a plant [i] or fungal [i] structure producing and containing spore [i]s. ...

. The sporangia are borne naked on highly dimorphic frond Frond

A frond is the breast [i]- like structure of a fern [i] or alga [i]. ...

s. They are larger than those of most other ferns.

Ferns of this family form heavy rootstocks with thick mats of wiry roots. Many species form short trunks; in the case of the genus Todea, they are sometimes considered as tree fern Cyatheales

The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic [i] division of the fern [i] subclass, Cyatheatae [i], which include ...

s because of the trunk, although it is relatively short.

The leaf Leaf

In botany [i], a leaf is an above-ground plant [i] organ [i] specialized for photosynthesis [i]. ...

tissue ranges from very coarse, almost leathery in the case of the Cinnamon fern Cinnamon fern

The cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, is a fern [i] of genus [i] Osmunda [i]....

, to delicate and translucent, as in the case of the genus Leptopteris.