Llavea cordifolia is a fern, the sole species of the genus Llavea. It is often cultivated as an ornamental foliage plant. The genus was named in honour of Pablo de La Llave, a Mexican naturalist. Recent cladistic studies have shown that this genus forms a natural group with Cryptogramma and Coniogramme, a group that is sister to all the other pteridoid ferns. This group has been published as the Cryptogrammoideae, one of five subfamilies of the Pteridaceae.