Nephrolepis

Nephrolepis is a genus of about 30 species of ferns. It is the only genus in the family Nephrolepidaceae, placed in the suborder Aspleniineae (eupolypods I) of the order Polypodiales in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).^[1] (It is placed in the Dryopteridaceae in some other classifications.^[2]) The genus is commonly referred to as macho ferns or Boston ferns.^{[citation needed]} The fronds are long and narrow, and once-pinnate, in the case of one Bornean species reaching thirty feet (nine meters) in length.^[3]

Nephrolepis
Nephrolepis exaltata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Polypodiineae
Family:	Nephrolepidaceae Pic.Serm.
Genus:	Nephrolepis Schott
Type species
Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott
Species
See text
Synonyms
Lepidoneuron Fée Leptopleuria Presl Lindsayoides Nakai

Phylogeny

The following cladogram for the suborder Polypodiineae (eupolypods I), based on the consensus cladogram in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I),^[1] shows a likely phylogenetic relationship between Nephrolepidaceae and the other families of the clade.

External phylogeny[1]	Internal phylogeny[4][5]
Polypodiineae (eupolypods I) Didymochlaenaceae Hypodematiaceae Dryopteridaceae Nephrolepidaceae Lomariopsidaceae Tectariaceae Oleandraceae Davalliaceae Polypodiaceae	Nephrolepis N. rivularis N. pectinata N. pendula N. lauterbachii N. undulata N. flexuosa N. cordifolia N. exaltata N. davalliae N. abrupta N. falcata N. radicans N. biserrata N. falciformis N. acutifolia N. davallioides N. brownii N. hirsutula N. obliterata

Selected species

• Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott. (syn. Aspidium bisseratum Sw., Aspidium acutum Schkuhr, Nephrolepis acuta (Schkuhr) C. Presl, Polypodium puctulatum Poir)
• Nephrolepis cordifolia (L.) C. Presl (syn. Polypodium cordifolium L., Nephrolepis tuberosa (Bory ex Willd.) C. Presl, Aspidium tuberosum Bory ex Willd.)
• Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott (syn. Polypodium exaltatum L.)
• Nephrolepis falcata
• Nephrolepis multiflora (Roxb.) F.M. Jarret ex C.V. Morton (syn. Davallia multiflora Roxb.)
• Nephrolepis obliterata
• Nephrolepis pectinata (Willd.) Schott (syn. Aspidium pectinatum Willd.)
• Nephrolepis tuberosa

Some species of Nephrolepis are grown as ornamental plants. Nephrolepis exaltata and Nephrolepis obliterata are reported to be good plants for cleaning indoor air.^[6]

Some Nephrolepis species may prove to be a good source of new antimicrobial chemicals.^[7]