Presented in Association with the Western New Mexico University Department
of Natural Sciences
Dryopteridaceae (Wood Fern Family)
The Dryopteridaceae are difficult to describe as a family because the limits of the family are not very distinct. Still, there are some traits that bind the group together. The plants are terrestrial, and have scales on the stems and petiole bases. The sori are never marginal and usually have an indusium (true covering.) The blades are generally lanceolate in outline. Microscopic spore characters also bind this group together.