Synonym(s): Asplenium contiguum Kaulf. var. pumilum Hillebr.; A. neobrackenridgei W. H. Wagner Endemic

Latin hirtus, shaggy, hairy, + -ulus, diminutive suffix.

Plants epiphytic, occasionally terrestrial, similar to A. contiguum except for abundant glandular hairs. Fronds with a tendency to be smaller than in type variety. Stipes densely covered with uniseriate hairs, most with amber or pale green, translucent glands at tips. Blades, rachises, and costae densely covered with glandular and nonglandular hairs.

Infrequent but locally common in restricted habitats in rain forests, 1,120 and 1,550 m, on Kaua'i and Maui.

Variety hirtulum may grow together with or near typical A. contiguum var. contiguum, and there is a continuum in the degree of frond hairiness and glandularity between the two varieties. The stipes and rachises of var. contiguum usually have few to many uniseriate glandular hairs.

Asplenium contiguum var. hirtulum differs from var. contiguum largely by its glandular and hairy rachises, stalks, and costae.