The species was formally described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810.

[5] Young fronds contain flavonoids that protect them from ultraviolet radiation and give them a pink colour.

Christenhusz et al., 2011, therefore reassigned all Doodia species to Blechnum.

was transferred to Blechnum medium and Doodia media subsp.

[7] Other sources, such as World Ferns, based on the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification, split Blechnum, accepting Doodia.