Abstract: In order to determine the taxonomic relationship of Dryoathyrium erectum (Z. R. Wang) W. M. Chu & Z. R. Wang, characters of the fronds, hairiness, sori and spores in Dryoathyrium and Athyriopsis were comparatively investigated. The results have shown that D. erectum has unconspicuous grooves on the frondal rachis and costa, uniseriate articulate hairs on the plant and diplazioid sori. All these characters are present in the genus Athyriopsis but not in the genus Dryoathyrium. The spore morphology of D. erectum is more similar to that in Athyriopsis than in Dryoathyrium. Evidence from the chloroplast trnL-F sequences data also supports the inclusion of D. erectum in Athyriopsis. Therefore, D. erectum should be a member of Athyriopsis, and A. erectum Z. R. Wang is the correct name of this species. Key words Dryoathyrium, Dryoathyrium erectum, Athyriopsis, Athyriopsis erectum, spore morphology, taxonomy.