They are separate, or laterally joined in a synangium, and lack an annulus. They are consistently trilete, and have one of the most elaborate sporoderm structures in the Filicopsida. They are small and fleshy, and may be pubescent-scaly at the apex. Enlarged at the base into a membranous, stipular sheath, they each at least partially enclose a bud. Entire, pinnate, or broadly and deeply palmate, they are rarely circinate in bud.
Leaves are glabrous or thinly pubescent.
Fleshy and irregularly elongate, it may be branched or nearly spherical. Antheridia and archegonia are rather uniformly distributed, or dorsiventral with the gametangia on the upper surface.