Greek mikros - small, lepis - scale; referring to the small indusia protecting the sori.
Rhizome mostly short-creeping, covered with brown hairs. Sterile and fertile fronds similar. Fronds divided 1-4 times, soft-textured and soft-hairy; axes grooved on the upper surface; veins free. Stalks densely distributed on the rhizome. Blade more or less triangular, large. Sori terminal on the veins. Indusia half-cup like.
c. 45 species from tropical and subtropical regions.
Spores and division of the rhizome.
Similar to Dennstaedtia which has a cup-shaped or slightly two-flapped indusium while those of Microlepia are half-cup shaped with a single flap and fixed at the base (and sometimes soon shed).
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.