''Woodsia'' is a genus of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s in the order

Polypodiales The order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which comprise more than 80% of today's fern species. They are found in many parts of the world including tropical, semitropical and temperate areas. Description Polypodiale ...

. In the

Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group, or PPG, is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the classification of pteridophytes (lycophytes and ferns) that reflects knowledge about plant relation ...

classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only genus in the family Woodsiaceae, placed in the suborder

Aspleniineae Aspleniineae is a suborder of ferns in the order Polypodiales. It is equivalent to the clade eupolypods II in earlier systems; it is also treated as a single very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae. The suborder generally corresponds with the o ...

. The family can also be treated as the subfamily Woodsioideae of a very broadly defined family

Aspleniaceae The Aspleniaceae (spleenworts) are a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales. The composition and classification of the family have been subject to considerable changes. In particular, there is a narrow circumscription, Aspleniaceae ...

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''. Species of ''Woodsia'' are commonly known as cliff ferns.

Taxonomy

Woodsiaceae formerly included the members of the families

Athyriaceae The Athyriaceae (ladyferns and allies) are a family of terrestrial ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae, and includes two gene ...

and

Diplaziopsidaceae Diplaziopsidaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae, and includes two genera. Alternatively, it may be treat ...

, but analysis has consistently shown that they should be treated as separate families. The following cladogram for the suborder

(as eupolypods II), based on Lehtonen (2011), and Rothfels & al. (2012), shows a likely

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

relationship between the Woodsiaceae and the other families of the Aspleniineae.

Species

There are about 40–50 species of the genus ''Woodsia''. , ''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

'' accepted the following species: *'' Woodsia alpina'' (Bolton) Gray – alpine woodsia *'' Woodsia andersonii'' (Bedd.) Christ *'' Woodsia angolensis'' Schelpe *'' Woodsia appalachiana'' T.M.C.Taylor *'' Woodsia asiatica'' Kiselev & Shmakov *'' Woodsia burgessiana'' Gerrard ex Hook. & Baker *'' Woodsia calcarea'' (Fomin) Shmakov *'' Woodsia canescens'' (Kunze) Mett. *'' Woodsia cinnamomea'' Christ *''

Woodsia cochisensis ''Woodsia'' is a genus of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only genus in the family Woodsiaceae, placed in the suborder Aspleniineae. The family can also be trea ...

'' Windham *''

Woodsia cycloloba ''Woodsia'' is a genus of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only genus in the family Woodsiaceae, placed in the suborder Aspleniineae. The family can also be trea ...

'' Hand.-Mazz. *'' Woodsia cystopteroides'' Windham & Mickel *'' Woodsia elongata'' Hook. *'' Woodsia fragilis'' (Trevis.) T.Moore *'' Woodsia glabella'' R.Br. – smooth cliff fern *'' Woodsia gorovoii'' Krestsch. & Shmakov *'' Woodsia guizhouensis'' P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang *'' Woodsia hancockii'' Baker *'' Woodsia heterophylla'' (Turcz. ex Fomin) Shmakov *'' Woodsia ilvensis'' (L.) R.Br. – oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern *'' Woodsia indusiosa'' Christ *'' Woodsia kangdingensis'' H.S.Kung, Li Bing Zhang & X.S.Guo *'' Woodsia lanosa'' Hook. *'' Woodsia macrochlaena'' Mett. ex Kuhn *'' Woodsia macrospora'' C.Chr. & Maxon *'' Woodsia manchuriensis'' Hook. *'' Woodsia mexicana'' Fée *'' Woodsia microsora'' Kodama *'' Woodsia mollis'' (Kaulf.) J.Sm. *'' Woodsia montevidensis'' Hieron. *'' Woodsia neomexicana'' Windham – New Mexican cliff fern *'' Woodsia nikkoensis'' H.Ogura & Nakaike *'' Woodsia oblonga'' Ching & S.H.Wu *'' Woodsia obtusa'' (Spreng.) Torr. – blunt-lobed woodsia, bluntlobe cliff fern *'' Woodsia okamotoi'' Tagawa *'' Woodsia oregana'' D.C.Eaton – Oregon cliff fern *'' Woodsia phillipsii'' Windham *'' Woodsia pilosa'' Ching *'' Woodsia pinnatifida'' (Fomin) Shmakov *'' Woodsia plummerae'' Lemmon – Plummer's cliff fern *'' Woodsia polystichoides'' D.C.Eaton *'' Woodsia pseudoilvensis'' Tagawa *'' Woodsia pseudopolystichoides'' (Fomin) Kiselev & Shmakov *'' Woodsia pubescens'' Spreng. *'' Woodsia pulchella'' Bertol. *'' Woodsia rosthorniana'' Diels *'' Woodsia saitoana'' Tagawa *''

Woodsia scopulina ''Woodsia scopulina'', common name Rocky Mountain woodsia, is a deciduous perennial fern in the family Woodsiaceae. This plant is native to the western and northern United States and Canada. ''W. scopulina'' is a small to medium sized fern, 10-3 ...

'' D.C.Eaton – Rocky Mountain woodsia *'' Woodsia shensiensis'' Ching *'' Woodsia sinica'' Ching *'' Woodsia subcordata'' Turcz. *'' Woodsia subintermedia'' Tzvelev *'' Woodsia taigischensis'' (Stepanov) Kuznetsov Some hybrids are also known: * ''Woodsia'' × ''abbeae'' Butters * ''Woodsia'' × ''gracilis'' (G.Lawson) Butters * ''Woodsia'' × ''kansana'' R.E.Brooks * ''Woodsia'' × ''maxonii'' R.M.Tryon * ''Woodsia'' × ''tryonis'' B.Boivin

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1314162, from2=Q1633130 Fern genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot