Greek blechnon, an ancient name for ferns in general.
Plants small to large, terrestrial or epipetric ferns. Rhizomes decumbent to erect. Stipes with vascular bundles arranged in aU-shape. Blades mostly pinnatifid to 1-pinnate, rarely 2-pinnate; rachises grooved, grooves not continuous with pinna rachises. Veins free or anastomosing, forming areoles, when fertile having 1 or more rows of areoles near costae. Sori short and intermittent to long and continuous, often in paired lines, on outer arches of areoles near costae. Indusia covering sori, thin to thick, sometimes glandular.
A worldwide family of about nine genera represented in Hawai 'i by three genera: one endemic, one indigenous, and one naturalized.