Hecistopteris J.Sm., London J. Bot.

Kessler, Michael, Smith, Alan R. & Prado, Jefferson, 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XXVII. Pteridaceae, Phytotaxa 332 (3), pp. 201-250 : 241

Hecistopteris J.Sm., London J. Bot. 1: 193. 1842.

A distinctive genus, easily recognized within subfam. Vittarioideae by the forked blade apices and free veins. It is easily overlooked due to its small size and resemblance to sporelings of many other ferns. Once found, it may be misidentified as a species of Asplenium , especially the small, epiphytic species with stoloniferous roots such as A. escaleroense Christ , but Hecistopteris lacks indusia and has trilete spores. A neotropical genus with three species, two of which have been described relatively recently, e.g., H. kaieteurensis Kelloff & G.S.McKee from Guyana ( Kelloff & McKee 1998). Hecistopteris is sister to Radiovittaria in phylogenetic analyses ( Schuettpelz et al. 2016).