This fern has a shiny and leathery upper surface and like all ferns, prefers damp places. It is very tolerant of extreme shade and so well suited to the dark, damp temperate rain forest where this one was photographed. The ordinary ferns do not have spores on the underside like many ferns. Instead a separate fertile frond is produced the same size as the others but with much thinner leaflets, producing the spores.