Aspleniaceae

The Aspleniaceae (spleenworts) are a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales. The composition and classification of the family have been subject to considerable changes. In particular, there is a narrow circumscription, Aspleniaceae s.s. (adopted here), in which the family contains only two genera, and a very broad one, Aspleniaceae s.l., in which the family includes 10 other families kept separate in the narrow circumscription, with the Aspleniaceae s.s. being reduced to the subfamily Asplenioideae. The family has a worldwide distribution, with many species in both temperate and tropical areas. Elongated unpaired sori are an important characteristic of most members of the family.

==Description== thumb|Sori of Asplenium trichomanes, showing linear arrangement with a thin membranous indusium along one edge thumb|Asplenium nidus in habitat: an epiphyte with undivided leaves Members of the family grow from rhizomes, that are either creeping or somewhat erect, and are usually but not always unbranched, and have scales that usually have a lattice-like (clathrate) structure. In some species, for example Asplenium nidus, the rhizomes form a kind of basket which collects detritus. The leaves may be undivided or be divided, with up to four-fold pinnation. The sori are characteristic of the family. They are elongated, and normally located on one side of a vein. More rarely, they may be in pairs on a single vein, but then they never curve over the vein. A flap-like indusium arises along one edge of a sorus. The leaf stalks (petioles) have two vascular bundles, uniting to form an X-shape in cross-section towards the tip of the leaf. The stalks of the sporangia are one cell wide in the middle.