Greek: Astro, star + lepis, scale. This refers to the starlike scales on the upper blade surface.
Rhizome: short-creeping, scales tan to chestnut brown, linear.
Frond: evergreen, monomorphic.
Stipe: dull chestnut brown or straw-colored, rounded above, scaly, vascular bundles: 2.
Blade: 1-pinnate, the pinnae varying from lobed to pinnatifid, linear, leathery, star-shaped scales on the upper surface.
Pinnae: 3-6 lobes per pinna, veins obscure, free, forking.
Sori: clustered near notches between pinna lobes, along veins near margin, indusium: absent, sporangia: light to dark brown.
The combination of linear, pinnate leaves, two vascular bundles in the petioles, and unique star-like scales on the upper blade surface separate Astrolepis from the related Cheilanthes.