Greek hypo - below, lepis - scale; referring to the scale-like indusium that occurs in some species.
Terrestrial ferns, hairy on blade, stalk and rhizome (often abundantly so), the hairs sometimes sticky or spiny. Rhizome long-creeping, at or near the surface, hairy. Sterile and fertile fronds similar. Fronds divided 3 or more times, broadly triangular in outline, grooved on the upper surface with raised lateral ridges; veins free. Stalks hairy, as long as or longer than the blades. Sori round, mostly near the segment margin. Indusia absent or formed from a reflexed marginal flap.
c. 50 species widespread in tropical and Southern Temperate regions (6 species in Australia).
Spores or division of rhizomes.
The discrete false indusial flaps (or absent indusia) distinguish Hypolepis from the closely related genera Paesia, Pteridium and Dennstaedtia. A hand lens is needed for identification: glandular hairs have distinctly bulbous tips and are generally sticky.
Brownsey & Chinnock (1984), Brownsey & Chinnock (1987), Brownsey (1987).
Source: (1995). Dennstaedtiaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.