Plants terrestrial, of small to moderate size. Rhizome long creeping, dark brown, apex covered with brown, lanceolate scales. Fronds distant, long stipitate; lamina simple, trifid, or deeply pinnatifid, thickly papery or subleathery, glabrous; pinnae (or lobes) 1-5 pairs, lanceolate, base slightly narrowed, apex acuminate, terminal pinna if present similar to but longer than lateral ones; veins anastomosing with 3 or 4 rows of areoles, marginal veins free. Sori oblong or linear, borne along costal and costular areoles; indusia facing toward costa, dark brown, linear-oblong, papery. Spores elliptic, perispore rugose, granular.

Chieniopteris is treated as a section of the genus Woodwardia by Cranfill and Kato (in Subhash Chandra and Mrittunjai Srivastava, eds., Pteridol. New Millennium, 25-48. 2003), which was followed by Christenhusz et al. (Phytotaxa 19: 27. 2011).

Two species: China, Japan, Vietnam; two species in China.

(Authors: Wang Faguo (王发国), Xing Fuwu (邢福武); Masahiro Kato)