Carl Linnaeus described the king fern in volume II of his Species Plantarum as Acrostichum barbarum in 1753,[1] from Africa.

[2] The king fern grows up to 3 metres (10 ft) tall, but has a short stumpy base.

[4] The king fern grows alongside streams, in rainforest gullies and other wet spots in tall open forest.

Occasionally it is found in drier sites in rock crevices among sandstone or granite cliffs or rockfaces.

In South Australia, the Todea barbara fern is increasingly rare, with small groups occurring in just a few disparate localities in the Mount Lofty Ranges.