Pronephrium
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Taxonomy
See discussion under subg. Menisciopsis. The earlier-known species of this section were placed in the genus Meniscium Schreb. by Swartz, Blume, Presl, Hooker, Beddome and Raciborski, and in Phegopteris sect. Meniscium by Mettenius and van Alderwerelt. Christensen () was the first author to regard them as belonging to a group distinct from the type of Meniscium. Ching (1938) clarified the taxonomy and nomenclature of the species of Mainland Asia but did not note the hooked hairs by which these species are distinguished from those here placed in sect. Menisciopsis.
P. triphyllum is distributed throughout the range of the genus Pronephrium; the others are more local in distribution. There are plants which appear to be hybrids of which one parent is P. triphyllum. In Malesia P. x parishii is so designated; there are others, more irregular in frond-form, in Sri Lanka and the Ryukyu Islands. Fee described a species Abacopteris elegans (), based on a specimen from Cochinchina which I have not seen; he stated that it had hooked hairs on sporangia, indusiate sori, and excurrent veinlets not free, a combination of characters which I have never seen, and I doubt the accuracy of his observations.
P. triphyllum is distributed throughout the range of the genus Pronephrium; the others are more local in distribution. There are plants which appear to be hybrids of which one parent is P. triphyllum. In Malesia P. x parishii is so designated; there are others, more irregular in frond-form, in Sri Lanka and the Ryukyu Islands. Fee described a species Abacopteris elegans (), based on a specimen from Cochinchina which I have not seen; he stated that it had hooked hairs on sporangia, indusiate sori, and excurrent veinlets not free, a combination of characters which I have never seen, and I doubt the accuracy of his observations.