Previous hypotheses on the evolutionary affinities of the eastern North American fern species most recently recognized as Parathelypteris simulata have included hybrid origin from North American progenitors and disjunctions with east Asian species. Recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that Parathelypteris sensu Ching is not monophyletic and that its species belong to two distinct clades, each of which includes members of other widely recognized genera: one of these clades includes the type of Parathelypteris, and the second includes southeast Asian and Pacific species of the more recently recognized genus Coryphopteris along with some temperate Asian species of Parathelypteris. Newly generated rbcL data representing the North American taxon Parathelypteris simulata places it in the Coryphopteris clade, as well. In consideration of ecological and phylogenetic evidence, the new combination Coryphopteris simulata is proposed.