Davalliaceae

Davalliaceae is a family of ferns belonging to the order Polypodiales. The family is named after its type genus, Davallia, which is native to the tropical regions of the Americas. Davalliaceae is characterized by its pinnate fronds, which are typically once-pinnate or twice-pinnate, and its sori that are borne on the underside of the pinnae. The family includes approximately 100 species, which are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world. Davalliaceae is often used as a model system in studies of fern evolution and development, due to its relatively small genome size and the availability of genomic resources. The family is also of interest to taxonomists, as it includes several genera that are difficult to classify due to their intermediate morphological characteristics.