Woodsia is a genus of ferns in the family Woodsiaceae. Species of Woodsia are commonly known as cliff ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it was the only genus in the family Woodsiaceae. In 2020, Physematium was split off from Woodsia on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence. As of June 2023[update], Plants of the World Online continued to treat Physematium as a synonym of Woodsia.

Phylogeny

There are about 25–30 species of the genus Woodsia. As of June 2023[update], World Ferns hosted at World Plants accepted the following species:

Phylogeny from Fern Tree of LifeOther species include:
Woodsia (Eriosorus) W. lanosa Hook. W. okamotoi Tagawa W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz. W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao (Woodsia) section W. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang W. rosthorniana Diels Eriosoriopsis section Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching Alpinae section W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn Woodsia section W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev SubcordataeW. asiatica Kiselev & Shmakov W. calcarea (Fomin) Shmakov W. cinnamomea Christ W. hancockii Baker W. macrospora C.Chr. & Maxon W. nikkoensis H.Ogura & Nakaike W. pilosa Ching †W. pseudomanchuriensis Akhmetiev W. pseudopolystichoides (Fomin) Kiselev & Shmakov W. pulchella Bertol. W. sinica Ching W. taigischensis (Stepanov) Kuznetsov W. taishanensis F.Z.Li & C.K.Ni
Woodsia(Eriosorus) W. lanosa Hook. W. okamotoi Tagawa W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz. W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao (Woodsia) section W. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang W. rosthorniana Diels Eriosoriopsis section Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching Alpinae section W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn Woodsia section W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev Subcordatae
(Eriosorus)W. lanosa Hook. W. okamotoi Tagawa W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz. W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao
W. lanosa Hook.
W. okamotoi Tagawa W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz. W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao
W. okamotoi Tagawa
W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz. W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao
W. cycloloba Hand.-Mazz.
W. kungiana Li Bing Zhang, N.T.Lu & X.F.Gao
(Woodsia)section W. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang W. rosthorniana Diels Eriosoriopsis section Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching Alpinae section W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn Woodsia section W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev Subcordatae
section W. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang W. rosthorniana Diels Eriosoriopsis
sectionW. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang W. rosthorniana Diels
W. guizhouensis P.S.Wang, Q.Luo & Li Bing Zhang
W. rosthorniana Diels
Eriosoriopsis
section Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching Alpinae section W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn Woodsia section W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev Subcordatae
section Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching Alpinae
sectionWoodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern) Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching
Woodsia glabella R.Br. (smooth cliff fern)
Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia) W. shensiensis Ching
Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray (alpine woodsia)
W. shensiensis Ching
Alpinae
section W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn Woodsia section W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev Subcordatae
sectionW. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn
W. andersonii (Bedd.) Christ
Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern) W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn
Woodsia ilvensis (L.) R.Br. (oblong woodsia, rusty cliff fern)
W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn
W. gorovoii Krestsch. & Shmakov
W. macrochlaena Mett. ex Kuhn
Woodsia
sectionW. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev
W. oblonga Ching & S.H.Wu
W. subcordata Turcz. W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev
W. subcordata Turcz.
W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton W. subintermedia Tzvelev
W. polystichoides D.C.Eaton
W. subintermedia Tzvelev
Subcordatae

Some hybrids are also known:

  • Woodsia × gracilis (G.Lawson) Butters = W. alpina × W. ilvensis
  • Woodsia × tryonis B.Boivin = W. ilvensis × W. glabella

When the genus Physematium is accepted, × Woodsimatium abbeae is a hybrid between Woodsia ilvensis and Physematium scopulinum.