Sori globose, us. submarginal, protected by reflexed modified seg. of lamina or further from margin and quite unprotected. Sporangia stalked; annulus incomplete, vertical; spores oblong, mostly tuberculate to spinulose. Rhizome creeping, solenostelic, bearing hairs; lamina bipinnate to decompound; veins free. Some 45 terrestrial spp., mainly tropical to subtropical.

Terrestrial ferns; rhizomes long-creeping, solenostelic; fronds often large, bipinnate or more compound; veins free; scales absent; hairs present on at least some part of lamina, rachis, stipe or rhizome, often abundant, glandular or nonglandular, sometimes modified on stipe and rachis into recurved spines; sorus ± round, ranging in position from marginal and terminal on a vein to submarginal and not quite terminating the vein; indusium a reflexed laminal flap, sometimes welldeveloped protecting the marginal sorus, more usually only partially reflexed, occasionally totally lacking in species with submarginal sori; spores monolete; chromosome number n = 28, 29, (39?), 52, 98, 104 (Brownsey 1983).

n = 152 (50 univalents + 51 bivalents)

n = 151 (49 univalents + 51 bivalents)

n = 149 (53 univalents + 48 bivalents)

n = 152–156 (52–64 univalents + 46–52 bivalents)

n = 87 univalents + 44 bivalents + 11 trivalents