Amblia C. Presl; Cyrtomium sect. Amblia (C. Presl) T. Moore.

Plants terrestrial, perennial, evergreen. Rhizome erect or ascending, short, (together with basal stipe) densely covered with scales; scales concolorous or bicolorous, dark brown to blackish brown, ovate or broadly lanceolate, margins ciliate, fimbriate, toothed, or entire, apex acute or acuminate. Fronds 2-6 per rhizome, caespitose, monomorphic; stipe stramineous or brownish stramineous, canaliculate adaxially, scaly, scales similar to those on rhizome; distal stipe scales sparser, similar to but smaller than basal stipe scales. Lamina linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, or deltoid-ovate, imparipinnate, apex with apical pinna somewhat dissected at base, rarely simple; rachis sulcate adaxially, without proliferous bulbils, scaly, scales smaller than distal stipe scales. Pinnae lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, falcate, or ovate, acroscopic base or both acroscopic and basiscopic bases auriculate (sometimes auricles indistinct), margins entire or toothed; texture papery or leathery, rarely thinly papery, with or without lanceolate or linear microscales abaxially, glabrous adaxially; venation reticulate, with 2-8 rows of oblique-polygonal areoles on each side of midrib, each areole with 1-3 free included veinlets. Sori orbicular, terminal on included veinlets, in 1 to a few rows on each side of midrib, indusiate; indusia peltate, orbicular.

About 35 species: mainly distributed in E Asia with its center of diversity in SW China; one species occurs in S India and two in E, S, and W Africa and Madagascar; one species is endemic to Japan; one species occurs in Asia and reaches Hawaii; one species is introduced but locally naturalized in South Africa, Europe, Hawaii, Réunion, and North America; 31 species (21 endemic) in China.

(Authors: Zhang Libing (张丽兵); David S. Barrington)