Prostrate plant. Slightly flattened stems up to 6mm in diameter, branching and rooting along their length. Underground tubers possibly produced during times of drought. Leaves slightly dimorphic, lateral leaves spreading, membranous. Strobili are solitary borne on a slender upright peduncle set with much reduced appressed leaves; sporophylls broadly ovate.

Derivation: carolianiana = from Carolina (southeastern USA), where the first recorded specimen was collected.