Table 3 Comparison of major morphological characters of three subfamilies of Dennstaedtiaceae
| Â | Hypolepidoideae | Dennstaedtioideae | Monachosoroideae |
|---|---|---|---|
Habitat | edge-colonizer or thicket-forming of open habitats | edge-colonizer of open habitats | shade-tolerant |
Rhizomes | long-creeping (ascending in Blotiella) | long-creeping | ascending to short-creeping |
Type of stele | Solenostele (dictyostele in Blotiella) | solenostele | dictyostele |
Hairs | multicellular hairs (bristles in Paesia and Hypolepis) on rhizome and fronds | multicellular hairs on rhizome and fronds | multicellular hairs on fronds, monachosorioid hairs (minute, few-celled, club-like, glandular hairs) on frond and sporangial stalk |
Phyllotaxy of fronds | alternate (radial in Blotiella) | alternate | radial |
Vascular bundles | one (Paesia) or several (Pteridium) vascular bundles; Omega-shaped or dissected C-shape (Pteridium); | Omega-shaped or C-shaped | two hypocampus bundles |
Type of development of archegonia | common Leptosporangiate-type | common Leptosporangiate-type | almost simultaneous development of archegonia in the midst of several antheridia |
Sori | marginal or submarginal | marginal or submarginal | terminal |
Indusia | one (adaxial, outer) or two (abaxial and adaxial) indusia | one (adaxial) or two (abaxial and adaxial) indusia | absent |
Spores | monolete (trilete in Pteridium) | trilete | trilete |
Chromosome basic number (x) | 24,26,28,29 | 30,31,33,34,40,42,43,46,47 | 56 |