Marattiopsida

The Marattiopsida are primitive ferns that are largely quite different from many of the plants that are familiar to people in temperate zones. Many of them have massive, fleshy rootstocks, and the largest known fronds of any fern are found in this group in the genus Angiopteris, native to Australasia and Oceania. These fronds may be up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) long. The group contains the Potato Fern, Marattia salicina, a large Australasian fern with an edible fleshy rhizome that is used as a food source by some indigenous peoples. The smaller plants of genus Danaea are native to the Neotropic.