Etymology Cretica refers to the island of Crete.

Description Rhizome: short-creeping, scales minute, dark brown to chestnut brown.
Frond: 60 cm high by 25 cm wide, deciduous in colder areas, dimorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 1:1 or less.
Stipe: dark brown to straw-colored at the base, sparsely scaly at base, glabrous above, vascular bundles: 1.
Blade: 1-pinnate, irregularly ovate, papery, pale green, glabrous.
Pinnae: 2 to 5 pair, linear, lowest pair forked, lower pinnae short-stalked, upper sessile, fertile pinnae contracted; margins fertile entire, sterile serrate; veins conspicuous, free, simple or once-forked.
Sori: continuous, submarginal, indusium: false, reflexed margin of pinnae stiff, pale brown, sporangia: yellowish brown.

Culture Habitat: limestone ledges and rocky meadows. Distribution: pan tropical and subtropical, native range unknown. Hardy to -15°C, USDA Zone 7.

Synonyms
Pycnodoria cretica (Linnaeus) Small