This is the first ever study of the development of stomata in Gleichenia gigantea Wallich ex Hook. (subg. Diplopterygium), Dicranopteris linearis (Burm. f.) Underw. var. montana Holttum and D. splendida (Hand.-Mazz.) Tagawa in detail. In these ferns, as in many polypodioid members, the polocytic stomata far outnumber the mesoperigenous anomocytic type.