Greek sphen, wedge, + meros, part, referring to the wedge-shaped ultimate segments.

Plants medium-sized, terrestrial, finely cut. Rhizomes creeping. Fronds erect, glabrous. Blades 3-pinnate or more divided. Pinnae alternate. Pinnules or ultimate segments usually wedge-shaped. Veins free. Sori marginal, terminal on single veins. Indusia attached at base and more or less along sides, opening toward margin.

Sphenomeris is a tropical genus, occasionally in subtropical and temperate areas, of about twenty often poorly defined species ranging from Madagascar, India, New Zealand, Polynesia, and north to Japan. Represented in Hawai 'i by one indigenous species. This species has been placed in various publications in the genus Odontosoria, a small genus of the Caribbean, southern Mexico, and Central America with two species in Africa. However, Odontosoria has larger, scandent fronds with indeterminate growth, opposite pinnae, and spinelike protuberances on the stipes and rachises.