the maidenhair fern family, containing about 50 genera and approximately 950 species, in the division Pteridophyta (the lower vascular plants (plant)). Members of Pteridaceae are distributed throughout the world, especially in tropical and warm-temperate regions. The family is characterized by spore-producing structures (sporangia (fern)) located in lines along the veins or at the vein tips; these structures may be unprotected (lacking indusium (fern)), in grooves, or covered by the rolled leaf margin (false indusium). True indusia are seldom produced.

Species of Pteridaceae are extremely diverse ecologically, ranging from floating aquatic plants to rock ferns in deserts and seasonally arid places. The spores are most commonly globose (tetrahedral).The members of Pteridaceae have been variously subdivided by botanists and include five (or more) relatively well-marked groups (clades) of genera whose classification remains controversial. The five clades given here have been treated as one or more separate families by some pteridologists (botanists who study ferns).

Most botanists consider the family Vittariaceae to be closely related to the maidenhair ferns and likely to be reassigned there, though the families are dissimilar in appearance. This family contains some 140 species classified into 6–8 genera, the largest being Vittaria (shoestring ferns) and Antrophyum, both found throughout the tropics. Most species of Vittariaceae have undivided strap-shaped leaves, with the sporangia either in long lines along the veins or more commonly in elongate grooves.

The Pteridoid clade contains 17 genera and about 400 species. The largest genus, Pteris (brakes), consists of about 250 species distributed throughout tropical and warm temperate parts of the world and is known for the large number of hybrids between various species. Pityrogramma, or the gold- and silver-backed ferns, consists of about 16 tropical species, which are occasionally cultivated in greenhouses for the colourful yellow or white farina found on the lower leaf surfaces of most species. The species of Eriosorus and Jamesonia will probably eventually be combined into a single genus. They occur at high elevations, such as the Andean páramos, and some of the species have leaves that drape over other vegetation and continue to uncurl from an indeterminate apex. Platyzoma contains the single species P. microphyllum, which is restricted to sandy soils in open habitats in northern Australia and has long narrow leaves with numerous small leaflets. Anopteris, Ochropteris, and Neurocallis each have a single species and highly restricted distributions in the tropics.

The Crytogrammoid clade contains 3 genera and about 23 species. The three small genera, Cryptogramma (parsley ferns), Coniogramme, and Llavea, are unusual morphologically, and their position relative to the closely related Pteridoid clade requires further study.

The Ceratopteridoid clade contains 2 genera and 6 species. Acrostichum consists of three species of large leathery-leaved ferns adapted to brackish and saline swamps in tropical coastal areas worldwide. Ceratopteris (water fern) also contains three species, which occur in tropical and warm temperate regions and are floating aquatics. They have been used as aquarium and pond plants and are popular teaching tools in genetics.