Sporangia large and rather stouter than those of other Leptosporangiate ferns, borne in small groups (filmy species of _Todea_) in linear and frequently confluent sori (_Todea barbara_; fig. 221, D) or clustered round the axis of modified fertile pinnae with much reduced lamina (_Osmunda_). The annulus is represented by a group of thicker-walled cells a short distance below the apex (fig. 221, C). This family stands apart among the ferns; in some respects, e.g. in the more robust sporangia occasionally forming synangia, and in the presence of stipular wings, it forms a transitional series between the Leptosporangiate and Eusporangiate ferns. The only European species of _Osmunda_, _O. regalis_, is almost cosmopolitan in range; other species occur in North and South America, in the Far East, the Malay Peninsula, and in other regions, more especially in the temperate zones. _Todea_ is represented by (i) the South African and Australian species, _T. barbara_, a fern with a stem, which may reach a height of several feet, thickly covered with adventitious roots and bearing large and somewhat leathery fronds; (ii) filmy species in New Zealand, New South Wales, New Caledonia, and elsewhere. A plant of the small tree-fern _Todea Wilkesiana_ (Fiji, Samoa, and other islands) in the filmy-fern house at Kew, to which my attention was drawn by my friend Mr A. W. Hill, has a slender stem with the characteristic leaf-scars exposed; it presents a striking similarity to some of the fossil species of Osmundaceae described in a later chapter. [Illustration: FIG. 221. A. _Osmunda cinnamomea_ (after Faull). B. _Todea barbara_, p, phloem; s, sclerenchyma. C. _Osmunda regalis_ (after Luerssen). D. _Todea barbara_ (½ nat. size).] =Schizaeaceae.= (_Schizaea_, _Aneimia_, _Lygodium_, _Mohria_.) Sporangia borne singly and not in groups (sori), readily recognised by the complete transverse apical annulus usually one layer of cells deep, but occasionally two layers in depth on the side opposite the line of dehiscence[685] (fig. 224, B). _Schizaea_ (fig. 222) with the exception of one species in North America (_S. pusilla_) is characteristic of Northern India, the Malay region, Australia, New Caledonia, S. Africa, and elsewhere south of the Equator. _Aneimia_ (figs. 223, 224, A, B), characterised by the fertile segments with reduced lamina, is chiefly American: the monotypic genus _Mohria_, resembling in habit the Polypodiaceous genus _Cheilanthes_, occurs in S. Africa and Madagascar, while species of _Lygodium_ are widely spread tropical ferns, with one species in temperate North America. This family has disappeared from Europe. [Illustration: FIG. 222. _Schizaea elegans._ (Slightly reduced.) A few of the segments terminate in narrow fertile lobes.] [Illustration: FIG. 223. _Aneimia rotundifolia._ (From the Royal Gardens, Kew. ⅓ nat. size.)] =Gleicheniaceae= [_Gleichenia_, _Platyzoma_ (= _G. microphylla_)].