Microsorum is a genusofferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).[3] The species are tropical. Like most ferns, they grow from rhizomes, rather than roots. The genus name is often misspelled "Microsorium" or "Microsoreum". It includes some species that are lithophytic rheophytes.
The genus Phymatosorus is included in Microsorum in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).[3] As of February 2019[update], both the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World and Plants of the World Online kept Phymatosorus separate.[4][5] A 2019 molecular phylogenetic study of the subfamily Microsoroideae did not distinguish Phymatosorus from Microsorum, and suggested that the genus as there circumscribed was sister to Leptochilus, together forming one of the three main clades in the subfamily:[6]
As of February 2020[update], the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World recognized the following species, either in Microsorum or in Phymatosorus with a synonym in Microsorum (marked "[P]" in the list).[7][4]
^Microsorum Link Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 15 Jan 2012
^Synonyms Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 15 Jan 2012
^ abPPG I (2016). "A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 54 (6): 563–603. doi:10.1111/jse.12229. S2CID39980610.
D.J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's plant-book: a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses, third edition, revised, Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-82071-5, ISBN978-0-521-82071-4, 1021 pages
