The Hymenophyllaceae, the filmy ferns and bristle ferns, are a family of two to nine genera and about 650 known species of ferns, with a subcosmopolitan distribution, but generally restricted to very damp places or to locations where they are wetted by spray from waterfalls or springs. A recent fossil find shows that ferns of Hymenophyllaceae have existed since at least the Upper Triassic.
Woodwardia is a genus of ferns in the family Blechnaceae, in the suborder Aspleniineae of the order Polypodiales. Species are known as netted-chain ferns. The genus is native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are large ferns, with fronds growing to 50–300 cm long depending on the species. The fossil record of the genus extends to the Paleocene.
Polyphlebium angustatum is a species of fern in the family Hymenophyllaceae. It is found in South America and on a number of Atlantic islands, including Tristan da Cunha. The genus Polyphlebium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not by other sources. As of October 2019, Plants of the World Online sank the genus into a broadly defined Trichomanes, treating this species as Trichomanes angustatum.
Trichomanes is a genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae, termed bristle ferns. The circumscription of the genus is disputed. All ferns in the genus are filmy ferns, with leaf tissue typically 2 cells thick. This thinness generally necessitates a permanently humid habitat, and makes the fronds somewhat translucent. Because of this membrane-like frond tissue, the plant is prone to drying out. “Filmy ferns” in the taxa Hymenophyllaceae grow in constantly wet environments. Many are found in cloud forests such as “Choco” in Colombia. There are also members of the taxa that can grow submersed in water.
Crepidomanes intricatum, synonym Trichomanes intricatum, is known as the weft fern. The genus Crepidomanes is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources. As of October 2019, Plants of the World Online sank the genus into a broadly defined Trichomanes, treating this species as Trichomanes intricatum.
Didymoglossum is a tropical genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae. It comprises more than 30 epilithic or low-epiphytic species under two subgenera. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources which sink it into a broadly defined Trichomanes.
Cheilanthoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the fern family Pteridaceae. The subfamily is thought to be monophyletic, but some of the genera into which it has been divided are not, and the taxonomic status of many of its genera and species remains uncertain, with radically different approaches in use as of December 2019.
Cephalomanes is a fern genus in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 but not by other sources, which sink it into a broadly defined Trichomanes.
Spinulum is a genus of club mosses in the family Lycopodiaceae. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is placed in the subfamily Lycopodioideae. Some sources do not recognize the genus, sinking it into Lycopodium. Spinulum annotinum is widespread in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Polyphlebium venosum, the veined bristle-fern or bristle filmy fern, is a fern in the family Hymenophyllaceae. It is only found in wet forests, mainly growing as an epiphyte on the shady side of the soft tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica. It also grows on logs, trunks of trees and rarely on trunks of Cyathea species or on wet rock-faces. It is found in the wetter parts of Eastern Australia and New Zealand. P. venosum has poor long-distance dispersal compared to other ferns due to its short lived spore. Notable features of Polyphlebium venosum include it being one cell layer thick, 5–15 cm in length, having many branching veins and a trumpet shaped indusium.
Didymoglossum petersii, the dwarf bristle fern, is a species in the family Hymenophyllaceae,. It is one of three filmy ferns native to a significant area of the United States. It is found only in the nine most southeastern states, south of the Kentucky/Virginia - Tennessee/North Carolina dividing line, as well as in Mexico and Guatemala.
Callistopteris is a fern genus in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 but not by some other sources, which sink it into a broadly defined Trichomanes.
Polyphlebium is a fern genus in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 but not by some other sources.
Vandenboschia is a fern genus in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 but not by some other sources.
Abrodictyum is a fern genus in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 but not by some other sources, which sink it into a broadly defined Trichomanes.
Cephalomanes atrovirens is a species of fern in the family Hymenophyllaceae. The genus Cephalomanes is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources. As of October 2019, Plants of the World Online sank the genus into a broadly defined Trichomanes, while treating the subtaxa of this species as the separate species Trichomanes acrosorum, Trichomanes atrovirens, Trichomanes boryanum and Trichomanes kingii.
Japanobotrychum is a genus of ferns in the family Ophioglossaceae with the sole species Japanobotrychum lanuginosum. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources.
Arthrobotrya is a genus of ferns in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Elaphoglossoideae, in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. The genus is native to Australia and New Zealand.
Elaphoglossum is a genus of ferns in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Elaphoglossoideae, in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016.
Lemmaphyllum is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).
