Phylum: Plantae
Division: Pteridophyta (Filicophyta)
Class: Pteridopsida (Filicopsida)
Order: Athyriales
Family: Woodsiaceae
Woodsia is a genus of twenty-two species, as per the work by Donald Brown, "A Monographic Study of the Fern Genus Woodsia." I am regarding Woodsia as being the sole genus of the family Woodsiaceae in the order Athyriales, because it has some definite distinctions from similar ferns. Many people have considered Woodsia to be close to Gymnocarpium and Cystopteris, but there is some evidence that they are not closely allied enough to be confamilial.
The genus Woodsia comprises plants of northern temperate, sub-arctic, and montane regions. All species are petrophilic, with some also growing in rocky scree. Woodsia montevidensis is the only species growing in the Southern Hemisphere. The bulk of species are Asian, with fifteen species growing there and twelve of these are endemic.
Plants of Woodsia species are fairly small, generally under a quarter of a meter in maximum height and usually much less than that. They grow in tufts with slowly creeping rhizomes. Sori are small and round, as in Gymnocarpium and Cystopteris. Woodsia obtusa in particular is often mistaken for plants of the Cystopteris fragilis/protrusa complex.
Species of Woodsia:
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This page was last revised on 11-20-1997.