网页The Psilotales, or psilotophytes (commonly called “whisk ferns”), consist of the single family Psilotaceae, with two genera (Psilotum and Tmesipteris). Like all vascular plants, the whisk ferns have an independent, dominant, free-living sporophyte; the haploid gametophyte is small, obscure, and free-living in or on the soil.