Thirteen genera are traditionally recognized in the subfamily Taenitidoideae, Pteridaceae. A phylogenetic study of this subfamily, based on both morphological and molecular data, was performed using an exemplar approach. Representatives of the following genera were included in the analyses: Jamesonia, Eriosorus, Pterozonium, Syngramma, Taenitis, Austrogramme, Pityrogramma, Anogramma, Actiniopteris, Onychium, and Afropteris. Specimens and DNA samples were not available for Cerosora and Nephopteris, so they were excluded. Three species were chosen as outgroups: Pteris multifida, P. quadriaurita, and Coniogramme fraxinea, all of which are restricted to the Old World. A robust phylogeny was generated based on 26 morphological characters, 578 base pairs of the plastid gene rps4 and partial data from the intergenic spacer rps4-trnS. The results reject the hypothesis of monophyly of the subfamily as presented by Tryon et al. (1990). However, the results support the monophyly of a well-supported clade consisting of Jamesonia, Eriosorus, Pterozonium, Austrogramme, Syngramma, Taenitis, Pityrogramma, and Anogramma. The New World genera Jamesonia and Eriosorus form a monophyletic group, and Pterozonium is more closely related to the Old World genera, Austrogramme, Syngramma, and Taenitis.