XVI International Botanical Congess

Systematics within the family Hymenophyllaceae have continued to be controversial because of the difficulty in identifying homologies and informative characters within high morphological and ecological diversity which has probably produced numerous cases of convergence. The family is traditionally divided into two principal genera: Trichomanes and Hymenophyllum. However these taxonomical units were often split" into numerous new taxa as illustrated by several conflicting published subdivisions and classifications. A systematic revision of this group was therefore needed. It was based on the confrontation and combination of several different data-sets and corresponds to: (i) re-examination of anatomical and morphological characters, (ii) integration of cytological data and (iii) use of molecules such as rbcL sequences. New systematic tendencies within this fascinating family are proposed from this global approach.