Family 47. Davalliaceae M.R.Schomb., Reis. Br. - Guiana (Ri. Schomburgk) 2: 883 (1848).

2 genera (Davallia, Davallodes).

Reference: Kato & Tsutsumi (2009), Tsutsumi & Kato (2006), Tsutsumi et al. (2008).

Note:—Tsutsumi and collaborators (2006, 2008) provided a phylogeny of the Davalliaceae, in which they found Davallia to be polyphyletic and proposed to recognise the 5 clades at the generic level. This classification creates an inflated number of genera and an alternative two genera concept can also be considered. They proposed the genus Araiostegiella Kato & Tsutsumi (2008) and reinstated Wibelia Bernhardi (1801: 122), the latter being a later homonym of Wibelia Gaertner et al. (1801: 97, 144), a genus of Asteraceae (= Crepis), and thus a new genus is needed to accommodate for Wibelia Bernh. Most species have combinations in Davallia and it seems appropriate to consider a broader concept for Davallia that includes Araiostegiella and Humata. To divide Davallia, the issue remains to which of the five clades the name Davallia should be applied, because the geographically isolated D. canariensis (L.) Sm., the type species, is not included in these studies. Without establishing to which clade this species belongs, a generic subdivision will be difficult to validate. Davallodes (incl. Araiostegia) as treated by Tsutsumi et al. (2008) is followed here, reducing the number of genera to two, but this may require updating using an improved phylogegentic analyses in the near future.