Introductory note

The work of preparation of a new survey of all the Pteridophytes of Malaysia will occupy a considerable period. It is proposed to publish this work in parts, as studies of particular families or genera are completed, but it is impossible to plan in advance the precise sequence of these studies. It is anticipated that the new information to be recorded, and new ideas based upon it, will throw a good deal of new light on the delimitation of genera, and upon the inter-relationships of genera, especially among the ferns, which are by far the largest of the major groups concerned. Therefore one cannot now predict what final scheme of classification will emerge. But it is necessary to have some sort of conspectus at the start, as a preliminary survey of the ground to be covered, and as a guide for those who wish to consult the parts of the work as they appear. I have therefore drawn up a list of the major groups, with the genera in each, and also a series of keys to the genera of ferns. The nomenclature of the major groups, the generic concepts, and the keys, must all be regarded as tentative.