Forms large tufts of densely crowded fronds.. Plants at high altitudes slightly smaller. Fairly common but easily overlooked. Stipe (leaf stalk) up to 70mm long, glabrous, thin. Fertile fronds with a pinnate terminal comb-like portion divided into 15-18 pairs of linear pinnae up to 12mm long; rachis of fertile pinnae portion is curved and held horizontally; sporangia are in two rows on either side of the rib.

Latin: pectinata = comb-like; an apt reference to the fertile portion of the frond.