It is the only genus in the family Anemiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).

[1] Alternatively, the genus may be placed as the only genus in the subfamily Anemioideae of a more broadly defined family Schizaeaceae,[2] the family placement used in Plants of the World Online as of November 2019[update].

[citation needed] The genus Anemia was first described by the Swedish botanist Olof Swartz in 1806.

In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), Anemia includes Mohria and Colina and is the only genus in the family.

A. karwinskyana (C.Presl) Prantl A. ferruginea Kunth A. guatemalensis Maxon A. myriophylla Christ A. gardneri Hook.

Sw. A. aspera (Fée) Baker A. labiakii Mickel A. schimperiana C.Presl A. angolensis Alston A. simii Tardieu A. warmingii Prantl A. dregeana Kunze A. hirta (L.) Sw. (streambank flowering fern) A. hirsuta (L.) Sw. (hairy flowering fern) A. tenera Pohl A. luetzelburgii Rosenst.