Cystopteris Bernh.
Terrestrial ferns. Rhizomes slender, blackish, decumbent or creeping, scaly. Fronds 2-3-pinnate, sparsely scaly, delicate, often dying down in winter; veins free. Sori round, borne on veins. Indusia ovate or hood-like, attached across the veins on basiscopic side of sori, arching over the sporangia. Spores monolete.
Key
1
Fronds 2-3-pinnate at base; apices of primary and secondary pinnae acute; longest primary pinnae > 3 cm long
Fronds 1-2-pinnate at base; apices of primary and secondary pinnae obtuse; longest primary pinnae usually < 3 cm long
c. 20 spp., mostly temperate and subtropical. Native sp. 1, naturalised 1.
