Adiantum aethiopicum was one of the many species first described by Linnaeus, in this case in his Systema naturae in 1759.[2] The specific epithet aethiopicum in this sense was the Latin term for Africa south of the then known world, that is to say, more or less Africa south of Egypt.[3][4] In South Africa the species occurs widely, though not generally profusely, mainly on moist sandstone cliffs in full shade.