[2] Fronds are 15–30 cm long with an erect stipe between 20 and 50 cm high, but reaching 1 m at times.The last, longest leaf segment on the frond is up to 18 mm, and unlike in S. flabellatus is not serrated.

[3] The underside of the leaf segments is white or glaucous, and is covered with broad scales which are brown in the centre and fade to pale on the margins.

[2] This fern grows in patches from a long creeping rhizome, which is much-branched and is covered with dark brown scales.

[3][4] It occurs from lowland to montane forest, usually along shaded stream banks and road cuttings where it can form the main ground cover.

[1] The fern is used in traditional Māori rongoā herbal medicine; one specimen collected in 1888 for King Tāwhiao is annotated "the sap of this fern is a powerful narcotic".