Asplenium trichomanes subsp. trichomanes grows usually in sour milieu, e.g. near Heidelberg in granite rocks, near Erstein (Alsace) in a sandstone wall, at the Donnersberg in volcanic rocks. From Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens it differs by having two rows of cells at the rip in the brown color of the rip, while the wider distributed Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens has brighter orange rows.