The identifiability of this illustration was disputed, leading some authorities to deprecate A. philippense as a nomen dubium and use the next available name for the taxon, Adiantum lunulatum Burm.f..[3] Burman conferred this specific epithet based on its half-moon shaped pinnae.

[4] However, Christopher Fraser-Jenkins located the original material and drawing of the lectotype sent to Petiver by Georg Joseph Kamel in the Sloane Herbarium, making clear the application of the name A. philippense.

Adiantum philippense grows in a creeping or semi-erect position.

It grows on streambanks, often on rocks in forests and woodland.

It inhabits tropical areas in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia.