Hypolepisjlaccida (Hillebr.) W. J. Rob.; H. punctata sensu auct., non (Thunb.) Mett.; H. tenuifolia sensu Underw., non (G. Forst.) Bernh.; Phegopteris punctata (Thunb.) Hillebr. var. flaccida Hillebr.; P. punctata var. glabra Hillebr.; P. punctata var. rugulosa Hillebr.; Polypodium punctatum sensu auct., non Thunb.; Pteris incisa sensu Hillebr., non Thunb.

Common names: olua

Endemic              

Plants small to large, terrestrial. Rhizomes about 1.3 em diam., rarely as small as 1-3 mm diam. Fronds remote, (6-)25-120(-150) em long, rarely mature when very small. Stipes brown, glabrous. Blades 2-pinnate to 4-pinnate-pinnatifid, ovate to broadly ovate; rachises and costae with sparse, chainlike, acute-tipped, tan hairs. Ultimate segments with crenate to slightly lobed margins. Sori sub-marginal, adjacent margins of segment lobes sometimes curled adaxially and partially covering sori.

Found in wet forests, 600-1,980 m, all major islands. Locally common, but absent or rare in large areas on some islands (known only from Ka'ala in the Wai 'anae Mountains and one site just north of Pe 'ahinai 'a summit in the Ko'olau Mountains of O'ahu).

A very small variety, Hypolepis hawaiiensis var. mauiensis, is found on Maui.

Hypolepis hawaiiensis resembles the bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum var. decompositum) but differs in having single round (not continuous and linear), marginal to submarginal, exindusiate sori sometimes partially covered by a reflexed, marginal lobe flap, and ultimate segments with crenate to slightly lobed margins.