Most of the grammitid ferns, now placed by many authors in a separate family, Grammitidaceae, or a subfamily, Grammitidoideae, of the Polypodiaceae, were at one time classified as members of the genus Polypodium. In 1967 Morton wrote, "Evidence ... has been accumulating in recent years that there are two major groups of species-those centering around the true Polypodium, as typified by P. vulgare L., and those belonging to Grammitis Swartz and some closely related small genera." Ching (1940) created a family, Grammitaceae, to accommodate these dwarf polypodies. In 1947 Holttum recognized the family, which he revised to Grammitidaceae, and later wrote (1955), "There are no intermediates between them and any true Polypodiaceae, and a close relationship seems very doubtful." After treating them, in 1947 and previously, as members of the Polypodiaceae, Copeland came to believe the group should have family status (1951). In her revision of Grammitis in New Guinea, Parris (1983) placed the genus in Grammitidaceae and gave a history of the family classification. Most authors have accorded the grammitid ferns family status, but W. Wagner (1973) retained them in a subfamily, the Grammitidoideae of the Polypodiaceae, and Tryon and Tryon (1982) placed them in a tribe, the Grammitideae of the Poly