Two disjunct populations of Pellaea wrightiana Hooker occur in North Carolina. The initial 1956 discovery substantiated its taxonomic position as an allotetraploid between P. longimucronata Hooker (=P. truncata Goodding) and diploid P. ternifolia (Cav.) Link. An allozyme survey revealed no genetic variation either between or within the two North Carolina populations suggesting a single dispersal event from the southwestern United States primary range. A third eastern population of P. wrightiana was recently re-ported from Pickens County, South Carolina. Morphological comparisons of pinnae from Pickens County material to P. wrightiana and P. ternifolia from both North Carolina and the southwestern United States indicate that the Pickens County entity is actually P. ternifolia ssp. arizonica Windham, and a new record for eastern North America. This brings the number of Pellaea species occurring in the Carolinas to three. A key for their identification is provided.