Common Rockcap Fern has an unusual botanical lineage, being a fertile allotetraploid hybrid of P. appalachianum and P. sibiricum, a distinction that gives it a wider adaptability than either parent. Native Americans harvested its fronds to treat gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, and the plant was clearly known and valued long before modern horticulture took notice. It grows at six to twelve inches, with lance-shaped to triangular fronds held erect to arching from branching, creeping rhizomes that spread across rocks and mossy tree roots. The sori on the undersides of fertile fronds are large, circular, orange to brown, and arranged in rows along the central vein of each pinna.

Once established, Common Rockcap Fern is notably adaptable, tolerating drought better than many ferns and growing well across a range of conditions that would discourage more particular shade plants. It performs best in moist, well-drained soil with good organic content, but it will grow on dry rock walls and shaded slopes with patience. The fronds are evergreen, making it genuinely useful in winter when a shaded border needs structure. It works well lining borders, naturalizing in a woodland garden, or colonizing the mossy base of a large tree.