It is native to coastal western North America from British Columbia to Guadalupe Island off Baja California.
It is a plant of the coastline, growing in cracks on coastal bluffs, in oceanside forests, beach dunes, and similar habitat.
It produces triangular or oblong leaves up to 85 centimeters in maximum length and 8 cm width.
Each leaf is made up of many round-tipped linear or oblong segments which are usually stiff and leathery in texture and edged with shallow, rounded teeth.
The underside of each leaf segment is crowded with rounded sori each up to half a centimeter wide.