Anthonya is a genus of cheilanthoid ferns described in 2025. Formerly classified in Cheilanthes, the species of the genus are all native to Africa (including Madagascar), with a center of diversity in South Africa. Their hairy or sticky leaf blades help distinguish them from most other cheilanthoid ferns in the region.
The species belonging to Anthonya were formerly classified in Cheilanthes. They are distinguished from the latter genus, when narrowly circumscribed, by having 64 rather than 32 spores per sporangium, or by having 32 spores that are greater than 57μm in diameter, those of Cheilanthes being smaller.[1]
Within their range, they are similar to three other genera segregated from Cheilanthes, Namaquapteris, Choristosoria, and Pellaeopsis. Species of Anthonya generally have hairy or sticky leaf blades and round rachides, while Namaquapteris and Choristosoria generally have glabrous leaf blades and grooved rachides. They also typically have dark, hard rhizome scales while those of Namaquapteris are more flexible and lighter in color. The sori of Anthonya are broken into short discontinuous segments on the lobes of the ultimate leaf divisions, while those of Pellaeopsis are long and continuous around the margin of the leaf.[1]
Taxonomy
The genus was described by Michael D. Windham and Kathleen M. Pryer in 2025 as part of a major phylogenetic reclassification of the hemionitid ferns.[1] While the species of the genus might be included in a broadly defined Cheilanthes or in an African subclade of Cheilanthes together with Namaquapteris, support for both of these clades is weak, and Windham, Pryer and their collaborators preferred to recognize smaller general with somewhat better morphological and geographic distinctions.[2] The genus is named for the botanist Nicola C. Anthony, who produced a highly detailed study of South African cheilanthoids that facilitated the new classification.[1]
Species
As of October2025[update], eleven species are accepted in the genus by the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World:[3]
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