Etymology Greek: Onoclea comes from onos which means a vessel + kleio, to close. It refers to the rolled up bead-like segments which enclose the sori. It was also an ancient Greek name for another, different, plant, most likely a borage.

Description Rhizome: long-creeping, scales.
Frond: sterile deciduous; fertile persistent; trophopod, dimorphic.
vascular bundles: 2, lunate.
Blade: sterile blades, pinnatifid to 1-pinnate at base, deltate, herbaceous to papery, linear to lanceolate scales and/or multicellular hairs.
Pinnae: lowest pinnae largest or nearly so, sessile or adnate, costae flat above, segments entire to sinuate, veins sterile: netted, fertile:free.
Sori: round, covered by revolute margins, indusium: vestigial, sporangia: green.

Distinctive Characteristics the beaded fertile frond, the pinnatifid sterile fronds, and the long-creeping, subterranean rhizome.