Asplenium appendiculatum has foliage that is dark green, with blades that are 100-300 × 50–150 mm long, leathery and slightly drooping.

[1] Stipe (stalk below the blade) is 50–150 mm long is grooved, green above, brown below and scattered with narrow triangle scales.

[3] Both the common and scientific name ‘spleenwort’ is derived from Asplenium species being used under the doctrine of signatures, to treat ailments of the spleen.

[5] A global phylogeny of Asplenium published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades,[7] which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study.

[8] In Tasmania Asplenium appendiculatum grows in wet sclerophyll forests, fern gullies and rocky outcrops on low mountain summits.

[9] In New Zealand, Asplenium appendiculatum grows in lowland to subalpine forested areas, but is also found in bluffs and rocky outcrops in grey scrub.