Premise of research. The polybotryoid fern clade is completely Neotropical and consists of Cyclodium, Maxonia, Olfersia, Polybotrya, and Polystichopsis. It has never received a detailed phylogenetic analysis. We performed such an analysis to examine the relationships among species and genera and to map the evolution of their morphological and anatomical characters.Methodology. Our study included 46 (77%) of the 60 species in the clade. It also included 37 outgroup species from 19 genera. We sequenced four plastid DNA markers (rbcL, rps4-trnS, trnG-trnR, and trnL-trnF) and analyzed the data with maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. One anatomical and 11 morphological characters were mapped on the resulting phylogenetic trees using the criterion of maximum parsimony.Pivotal results. The polybotryoid clade was strongly supported as monophyletic, as were its component genera. Nearly all its species have long-creeping rhizomes. Polystichopsis was resolved sister to the other polybotryoid genera. Its mono...