The species forms effused basidiocarps (fruit bodies) on ferns, on which it is parasitic.

[2] The fungus parasitizes host leaves, producing basidiocarps as small whitish patches covering the sori.

Microscopically, the basidia are auricularioid (tubular with lateral septa) and emerge from thin-walled probasidia.

The species was originally described by American mycologist John N. Couch based on a collection from Jamaica.

[2] A second species, Platycarpa boliviensis, is now considered a synonym of Ptechetelium cyatheae.