Indument of transparent needlelike hairs, general absence of blade scales, stipe vasculature with two crescent-shaped bundles, generally 1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid blades. Here 3 genera.

Etymology Greek: From oreos, mountain, + pteron, wing, describing the pinnae. But note that pteris was used by ancient Greeks to describe all ferns. Oreopteris is a fern of the mountainous regions.

Description Rhizome: erect, triangular scales.
Frond: deciduous, monomorphic.
Stipe: grooved above (not continuous), scaly, vascular bundles: 2, crescent-shaped.
Blade: 1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, lanceolate to ovate, transparent needlelike hairs, glandular.
Pinnae: shortened towards the base, becoming extremely small, costae grooved above or not, veins free.
Sori: round or oblong, near the margins, indusium: small or absent.

Distinctive Characteristics Yellow glands on lower surface, hairs on costae, pinnae becoming tiny at the base.

Etymology Greek: phegos, beech + pteris, fern. The original name for Phegopteris connectilis was Polypodium phegopteris, the beech fern.

Description Rhizome: long-creeping, ovate scales.
Frond: deciduous, monomorphic.
Stipe: straw-colored at base, scales tan, lanceolate, below, and pointed hairs on both sides, vascular bundles: 2, crescent-shaped.
Blade: pinate-pinnatifid, triangular to ovate, transparent needlelike hairs and spreading, ovate-lanceolate scales on rachis below.
Pinnae: base fused to rachis, and often connected by wings, costae not grooved, spreading, ovate-lanceolate scales below, veins free, simple or forked.
Sori: round to oblong, beyond the middle to submarginal, indusium: absent, sporangia: tan.

Distinctive Characteristics The broad connection of the pinnae along the rachis (adnate) and winged tissue between adjacent pinnae is distinctive.

Etymology From the Greek. Thelys means female, + pteris, the word for ferns in general.

Description Rhizome: long-creeping, triangular scales.
Frond: deciduous, monomorphic or somewhat dimorphic.
Stipe: scaly, vascular bundles: 2, crescent-shaped.
Blade: 1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, lanceolate to ovate, transparent needlelike hairs, sometimes glandular.
costae grooved above, discontinuous with the rachis, veins free.
Sori: round or oblong, medial to supramedial or elongate along veins, indusium: reniform, occasionally ephemeral, at a sinus.

Distinctive Characteristics Members of the genus are pinnate with deeply lobed pinnae, have two vascular bundles, sori with a kidney-shaped, short-lived indusium, and needle-like, translucent or white hairs on the lamina, rachis, stipe.