Marattiales
Marattiales is an order of ferns consisting of some of the most primitive living lineages within the fern group. In contemporary classifications, it includes two living families, Marattiaceae and Angiopteridaceae, which together contain several genera such as Marattia and Angiopteris. Some systems treat the two families as distinct, while others place Angiopteridaceae within Marattiaceae as subfamilies. The order is often cited as representing an early branch of eusporangiate ferns, in contrast to the more diverse leptosporangiate ferns that dominate many modern habitats.
Members of Marattiales are typically large ferns with substantial rhizomes and sizable fronds. They are predominantly
Reproduction in Marattiales involves spores produced by eusporangia, a characteristic inherited from early fern lineages. The
The fossil record of Marattiales extends back to the Paleozoic, with abundant material from the Carboniferous