Sphaerostephanos J. Sm. (in Hook., Gen. Fil. t. 24, 1839) was based on a single species characterized by elongate sori, the structure of which was incorrectly observed, as subsequently noted by its author who later admitted that it is 'scarcely distinct from Nephrodium' (Hist. Fil.: 210, 1875) in which genus, as N. javanicum, it was placed by Hooker (Spec. Fil. 4: 67, 1862). Most subsequent authors, however, maintained it (or its substitute Mesochlaena R. Br.) as a genus solely distinct in its elongate sori; as so constituted it is a mixture of species not closely allied nor sharply distinct from species with circular sori. When I proposed a new system of genera in the family Thelypteridaceae in 1971 (Blumea 19: 39) I found that Sphaerostephanos was the oldest generic name for a large group of mainly Malesian species, most of them with sori not elongate, and re-defined it accordingly. The 17 species in the Pacific were described in 1977 (Allertonia 1, No. 3); the c. 160 species in Malesia will be dealt with in a forthcoming issue of Flora Malesiana Series II; the present paper is concerned with the 13 species of Asia excluding Malesia, six of which are also Malesian in distribution. Nearly all species are plants of forest with erect or short-creeping caudex, and most are of restricted distribution; an exception is the widelydistributed S. unitus which grows in open places and has a long-creeping caudex. A character of almost all species is the presence of small sessile spherical yellow glands which in S. arbuscula occur on both surfaces of pinnae and on indusia and sporangia (Plates 9 & 10). In Malesia a series of species can be traced showing gradual loss of these glands, and there is a considerable minority in which no glands occur, though in other ways they appear to belong to the genus. In mainland Asia S. hirtisorus belongs to this group and appears to be closely allied to the widely-distributed S. invisus (Forst. f.) Holttum of Eastern Malesia and the Pacific. The most distinctive field-character of the genus, which it shares with Pneumatopteris, is the presence of much-reduced basal pinnae, usually with a sharp transition from normal to reduced. The number, size and shape of these reduced pinnae, and the shape of lower normal pinnae, provide important diagnostic characters. Old herbarium specimens often lack the base of fronds, and early authors failed to recognize the distinctive characters of lower pinnae, often also ignoring the presence of glands. This led to