The sterile leaves have flat, wavy-margined leaflets 5 to 8 millimeters wide, while the fertile leaves have much narrower leaflets, each with two thick rows of sori on the underside.

[5] The Latin specific epithet spicant is of uncertain origin, possibly referring to a tufted or spiky habit.

[6] S. spicant is hardy down to −20 °C (−4 °F) and evergreen, growing to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in).

[7] It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[1] In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is placed in the genus Struthiopteris, in the subfamily Blechnoideae.