Plants terrestrial, epilithic, or epiphytic. Rhizome long, creeping, erect, or scandent; scales blackish brown, thick, spreading or appressed, imbricate, peltate at base, margin often long ciliate. Fronds distant or clustered; stipe articulate to raised phyllopodia; lamina simple, entire, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, herbaceous, papery, or leathery, margin cartilaginous, glabrous or pubescent; costa prominent, raised adaxially, often with small scales on abaxial surface; veins simple or forked, free. Sori in a single often irregular row on either side of costa; indusia persistent, red-brown, reniform or orbicular-reniform, membranous or papery. Spores monolete, with broad, winglike, echinulate folds, cristate or echinate to erose.

See the revision by Hovenkamp and B. C. Ho (PhytoKeys 11: 1-37. 2012).

Ching Ren-chang, Fu Shu-hsia, Wang Chu-hao & Shing Gung-hsia. 1959. Oleandraceae. In: Ching Ren-chang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 2: 319-325, 378-379; Wu Shiewhung. 1999. Oleandraceae. In: Wu Shiewhung, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 6(1): 154-160.

One genus and 15-20 species: pantropical, mainly from tropical Asia and the Pacific islands, a few in Africa and South America; five species in China.

(Authors: Zhang Xianchun (张宪春); Peter H. Hovenkamp)