| Author | Farrar & Raine | |
| Distribution | Known only from the three counties in the southern Mountains adjacent to the GA-SC borders, an area known as the "Escarpment Gorges."
This is a Southern montane endemic species occurring in a few discrete clusters -- the tri-state area of NC-GA-SC, in eastern TN, and in northwestern AL. | |
| Abundance | Locally uncommon in its small NC range, with about 20 records in the NCNHP database. That agency ranks it as S1S2, despite the number of records, as most are in a very small region near the Tri-state border. It is a Significantly Rare species. | |
| Habitat | Unlike with Didymoglossum petersii, which occurs on drier rock faces, this species occurs only on moist to rather wet rock faces, on granitic rocks in grottoes or behind waterfalls. These sites are in a high rainfall area (often 70-80" or more per year). | |
| Phenology | Uncertain | |
| Identification | This is a very small and somewhat mat-forming species. It has a slender stem along the rock face; the scattered leaves have a slender petiole about 1/2-inch long, and the blades are about 1.3 inches long and 1/2-inch wide, but pinnate, with each pinna cut into a few strap-shaped lobes. There is a single sorus at the base of each pinna. Words cannot really describe what the species looks like; check Google images. It generally has a rather tangled look, like a green lichen. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Gorge Filmy-fern | |
| State Rank | S1S2 | |
| Global Rank | G2 | |
| State Status | SR-O | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
