Ophioglossaceae

Ophioglossaceae, the Adder's tongue family, is a family of ferns, currently thought to be most closely related to Psilotaceae, the two together comprising the class Psilotopsida as the sibling group to the rest of the ferns. The Ophioglossaceae is one of two groups of ferns traditionally known as eusporangiate fern. The number of genera included in the family varies between different authors' treatments, and most conservatively the family is treated as containing four genera, Ophioglossum, Botrychium, Helminthostachys, and Mankyua (placed in two to four separate families in other treatments). A broad definition of the family and its genera have been taken in several recent treatments (e.g., Wagner 1990, Smith et al. 2006, and in the Flora of North America). A notable exception is the classification of Kato (1987), who advocated the division of Botrychium into four genera: Botrychium s.s., Sceptridium, Japanobotrychium, and Botrypus.