[4] The majority of the leaflets are erect, but the bottom pair point downward.

Sori (singular sorus), are found on the underside of the leaflets, and they are round in shape.

[7] The shoot system sprouts up from a rhizome, which is typically an underground root, but is sometimes found at the ground level.

[4][8] Genus boundaries in the family Thelypteridaceae have been subject to regular changes; the species has also been placed in Thelypteris (1910), Parathelypteris (1976) and more recently Coryphopteris (2018).

Coryphopteris simulata is a terrestrial plant native to Eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Québec), the North-Central United States (Wisconsin), the Northeastern United States (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia) and the Southeastern United States (Alabama, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia).

[10] The isolated patch discovered in southwestern Wisconsin was far outside its expected distribution.

[citation needed] Coryphopteris simulata grows in shaded, marshy wetlands and bog areas such as cedar, spruce, larch, and sphagnum swamps.