The sori and sporangia mature at the same time, and the spores grow into surface-dwelling green prothalli beset with club-shaped hairs.

They may alternatively be considered a subclass Gleicheniatae or class Gleichenopsida, so that a distinct taxon can be established for the leptosporangiate ferns.

But the ferns in the loose sense are much too diverse a group to be shoehorned into one taxon at such a low rank.

[2] The Triassic Antarctipteris and Gleichenipteris are sometimes ascribed to the Gleicheniaceae, but are probably better considered Gleicheniales incertae sedis.

[2] There are seven extant genera recognized as of February 2020[update][4][5] Phylogeny of Gleicheniaceae by Nitta et al. 2022[6] and Fern Tree of life[7] Rouxopteris Liu 2020 Diplopterygium Nakai 1950 Gleichenella Ching 1940 Dicranopteris Bernhardi 1805 Sticherus Presl 1836 Stromatopteris Mettenius 1861 Gleichenia Smith 1973