Pteridophytes Pteridophytes The ferns and their allies. Sporophyte vascular herbs , mostly terrestrial, rupestral or epiphytic, sometime floating, submerged or emergent aquatic, mostly soft or delicate, sometimes harsh or stout, rarely arborescent. Leaf stalk or stipe mostly present and mostly lacking stipules. A large group of ancient or primitive land plants with worldwide distribution, all continents except Antarctica and most islands, favouring moist temperate and tropical regions, they can be found in all but the most frigid and most arid environments.
Free water is required for fertilization and the production of a new generation of plants.
There are no marine species. Notes The 'Pteridophyta' is generally considered to be a biologically unnatural group but the use of the term persists, largely out of convenience and the need for a handle for the 'ferns and related plants'. In this work, for purely practical purposes, these higher divisions are largely ignored. Ferns of Queensland. A handbook to the ferns and fern allies.