Family · Ferns & allies

Gleicheniaceae

Forking ferns

Scrambling ferns with repeatedly forking fronds that form dense thickets in open tropical sites.

Accepted species: 163accepted names · Kew WCVP
Genera: 8accepted genera · Kew WCVP
Origin: ≈118 MaCretaceous · crown age, Jin & Qian 2022 megatree
Centre of diversity: Southern Americamost native species · WGSRPD

Open Gleicheniaceae in the treePan, zoom and dig into its genera in the interactive view.

Plants you might know

Gleichenia
Dicranopteris

Genera

Sticherus93 spp.
Dicranopteris28 spp.
Diplopterygium22 spp.
Gleichenia13 spp.
Rouxopteris3 spp.
Sticheropsis2 spp.
Gleichenella1 spp.
Stromatopteris1 spp.

Where it grows

Southern America74
Asia-Tropical58
Australasia18
Asia-Temperate18
Pacific17
Africa10
Northern America8
Antarctic2

Native species richness by botanical continent (WGSRPD level 1), from Kew WCVP.

Related families

Gleicheniaceae sits in the order Gleicheniales.