Rhizome erect, short, thick, 1.5-2 cm in diam., woody, apex with brown scales. Fronds clustered; stipe 60-80 cm, slightly extended at base, 1-2 cm in diam., firm, scabrous, glabrous or with purple-brownish bristles, broadly grooved adaxially; lamina usually 3-partite, lateral branches usually pedately divided, broadly ovate-pentagonal in outline, 70-85 × ca. 60 cm; central division 1- or 2-pinnatipartite, 50-70 × 20-25 cm, basal stalk 7-10 cm, thicker; lateral pinnae more than 20 pairs, alternate, oblique or decumbent, basal ones shortly stalked, 3-4 cm apart, apical ones sessile, lanceolate, 11-15(-20) × 2-2.5 (-3.5) cm, base subtruncate to broadly cuneate, deeply pectinately divided to leave narrowly winged costule, margins flat serrate, apex linear-caudate (1-2 cm); basal pinnules slightly shorter; segments 23-30 pairs, alternate, contiguous or acutely incised, 1-2 mm apart, oblique, oblong or broadly lanceolate, 10-13(-18) × 3.5-4.5 mm, margins obtusely flat serrate, apex acuminate or obtuse; terminal pinna similar to lateral pinnae, base cuneate with short stalk; costules prominent abaxially, glabrous, slightly grooved adaxially, with short spines; veins conspicuous on both surfaces, oblique, acroscopic vein of segment base anastomosing with basiscopic vein of adjacent segment into an arcuate vein, to form a series of narrow areoles along costules, and with several free simple veinlets arriving at incision in outer edge of arcuate vein, apical 2 or 3 pairs simple, other 2-forked at base, decumbent; lamina pale green or gray-green, firmly herbaceous when dried, subglabrous; glabrous, slightly grooved adaxially.
Forests, valleys. Chongqing, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kashmir, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam].
