Greek haplos, single, simple, + pteris, fern, in reference to the simple, straplike fronds of this genus.

Plants small to medium-sized, epiphytic, occasionally epipetric. Rhizomes short-creeping, densely clothed with dark scales. Fronds clumped or slightly separated, strap-shaped, grasslike. Stipes nearly absent to long. Blades simple, long, narrow, 5-60 x 0.1-2 cm, leathery, entire. Veins obscure. Sori lining margins, in a 2-lipped groove opening outward, paraphyses with funnelform apical cells. Indusia absent.

Haplopteris is a genus of about twenty species ranging from Africa through Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific basin. Members were formerly placed in the genus Vittaria, which is now regarded as a primarily American genus.

Represented in Hawai 'i by a single indigenous species.