Fern orders

The order Cyatheales, which includes most tree ferns, is a taxonomic order of the fern class, Polypodiopsida. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicate the order is monophyletic. Some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth forms from a vertical rhizome, others have shorter or horizontal expanding rhizomes.

The order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which account for more than 80% of today's fern species. They are found in many parts of the world including tropical, semitropical and temperate areas.

The order Salviniales (formerly known as the Hydropteridales and including the former Marsileales) is an order of ferns in the class Polypodiopsida.

Equisetales is an order of subclass Equisetidae with only one living family, Equisetaceae, containing the genus Equisetum (horsetails), as well as a variety of extinct groups, including the tree-like Calamitaceae.

Gleicheniales is an order of ferns in the subclass Polypodiidae (the leptosporangiate ferns). The Gleicheniales has spore records potentially as early as the Early Carboniferous, but the oldest unambiguous macrofossil records date to the Early Permian.

Schizaeales is an order of ferns (class Polypodiopsida).

Sphenophyllales is an extinct order of articulate land plants and a sister group to the present-day Equisetales (horsetails). They are fossils dating from the Devonian to the Triassic. They were common during the Late Pennsylvanian to Early Permian, with most of the fossils coming from the Carboniferous period.

Zygopteridales is an extinct order of ferns or fern-like plants which grew primarily during the Carboniferous. It comprises two families: Zygopteridaceae, which contains at least a dozen named genera, and Teledeaceae, which comprises two genera (Teledea and Senftenbergia). A few other genera are of uncertain placement and are not assigned to any family yet.

Pseudosporochnales is an order of the extinct cladoxylopsids. It contains the Hyeniales.

Iridopteridales is an order of the extinct cladoxylopsids. It contains the genus Ibyka which is a possible ancestor of the horsetails.