Moranopteris R.Y.Hirai & J. Prado

Smith, Alan R., Kessler, Michael, León, Blanca, Almeida, Thaís Elias, Jiménez-Pérez, Iván & Lehnert, Marcus, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XL. Polypodiaceae, Phytotaxa 354 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

Moranopteris R.Y.Hirai & J. Prado , Taxon 60(4): 1127(–1128). 2011.

Initially, species now treated in Moranopteris were included in Xiphopteris ( Copeland 1952a) and later in either Grammitis ( Morton 1967) or Micropolypodium (Smith 1992) . Inclusion in Micropolypodium , with type from eastern Asia, was based on very similar blade dissection, venation, and also similar indument. Moranopteris , as defined by Hirai et al. (2011) differs from other genera of Grammitidaceae by a single unbranched or 1-forked vein in each segment, erect rhizomes with mostly golden brown, or sometimes castaneous nonclathrate scales, linear, usually pinnatifid or pinnatisect blades (rarely pinnate-pinnatisect) generally less than 1 cm wide (but see discussion under M. longisetosa below), unisoriate segments, and prominent hydathodes adaxially. It is similar in appearance to some species of Lellingeria , which have clathrate rhizome scales. Moranopteris comprises 29 neotropical species ( Hirai et al. 2011, Sundue et al. 2015a) and an additional species was recently discovered in Madagascar ( Bauret et al. 2017). It has seven species in Bolivia; one hybrid is known in Brazil ( Labiak & Matos 2007). Labiak & Prado (2005c) treated the Brazilian species of Moranopteris (as Micropolypodium ).

Phylogenetic affinities are still somewhat uncertain, but the genus, as redefined by Hirai et al. (2011), is monophyletic and sister to a large, relatively unresolved clade of Asian grammitids, comprising at least 12 other recognized genera (according to PPG I 2016), including Micropolypodium .