Dryopteridaceae

Dryopteridaceaeis a family of ferns of the Polypodialesorder. They number around 1,700 species and have a cosmopolitan distribution. They are distinguished by their one-cell sporangia (an organ for asexual reproduction.)
Member of the family is the Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott(‘male’ fern). It is a perennial herbaceous plant with an underground stem. It is altered in a thick single- or many-headed root system (part of it also develops on the soil). In the front part of this root system every spring grow leaves arranged most often in the form of a regular funnel bundle (with the rear end of the rhizome gradually dying off). The leaves are from30 to120 cm high, double pinnate with short light brown stems. In their inferior part are the spores – sori - covered with indusial.In medicine Dryopteris filix-mas L. Schottis applied in the treatment of tapeworm.