| Distribution | A genus of 66 species mostly restricted to the Old World tropics and subtropics, from Africa through India and southeast Asia, China, Japan, and Malesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia with at least one species (C. hispidula) native in the New World tropics.
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Leaves
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Fronds monomorphic, occasionally weakly dimorphic with the fertile ones taller and longer-stiped, pinnate-pinnatifid, erect or arching; stipe stramineous to purplish, adaxially grooved, bearing scales at the base like those
of rhizome apex; blade chartaceous to subcoriaceous, drying greenish, with proximal several 1–5(–10) pairs of pinna
gradually reduced and almost always auricled at acroscopic base (the lowest not less than 2 cm long), less often truncate at base, apex usually not conform and generally pinnatifid or pinnatisect, infrequently subconform; rachis generally quite hairy, hairs 0.1–1.0 mm long, rarely also scaly, lacking proliferous buds in axils of pinnae; pinnae usually alternate or becoming alternate distally, adaxially with a groove that is not continuous with the rachis groove, shallowly to often deeply pinnatifid; veins usually prominent on
both sides, unbranched, 1–3 lowermost pairs from adjacent segments united at an obtuse angle below the sinus, and
forming excurrent veins running to the sinus, rarely lowermost veins connivent at the sinus or meeting the segment margins above the sinus, free vein ends reaching segment margins; aerophores absent at pinna bases, not swollen (pinnae abaxially sometimes with a slightly raised, darkened lunate ridge at attachment to rachis); indument abaxially of stipe, rachis, costa, veins, and often laminar tissue between veins of hyaline, acicular, spreading hairs, these short to long (0.1–1+ mm), generally unicellular, sometimes also with short capitate hairs, these usually with orangish to reddish, somewhat elongate (pear-shaped or clavate) glands on costules and veins, lacking sessile spherical glands and costal scales; indument adaxially of generally long (> 0.5 mm) hyaline, unicellular setae on stipe, rachis, and costa, sometimes also on veins, also often with
scattered to rather dense, usually somewhat spreading (at least not closely appressed) hairs 0.2–0.3 mm between veins on most species; pustules absent on laminar tissue on both sides.
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Sori
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Sori medial or nearly so, not coalescent at maturity, indusiate; indusium usually setose on margin and surface, and somewhat persistent; sporangia usually
without setulae or glands on the capsules, but often each with a unicellular, orangish, elongate gland on the stalk.
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