The small fern has delicate yellow-green leaves which appear similar to small sprigs of parsley. It was first recorded in 1842 by an amateur botanist, Dr A.B. Curror, and then officially described and named by Joseph Dalton Hooker after a visit he made to the island in 1843. It is endemic to the steep slopes of Green Mountain on the island. Another specimen was recorded in 1889, with few or no reports of specimens again until 1958, when a British scientist collected one on the north slope of the mountain. Further searches were conducted in 1976, 1986 and 1995 but were unsuccessful, and in 2003 it was officially declared extinct.