Urostachys chinensis Herter ex Nessel, Bärlappgewächse, 27. 1939, based on Lycopodium chinense Christ, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 4: 101. 1897, not L. sinense Desvaux (1827); Huperzia takingensis Ching; L. selago Linnaeus subsp. chinense Hultén; L. selago var. chinense Ohwi.

Plants terrestrial. Stem erect or ascending, 10-16 cm, 1.2-2 mm in diam. at middle, together with leaves 1-1.3 cm wide, 2-4 times dichotomously branched, upper portion often with bulbils. Leaves sparse, attached at right angles with stem, not lustrous, lanceolate, not contracted toward base, widest at base, straight, 4-6 mm, ca. 1.2 mm wide at base, papery, glabrous on both surfaces, midrib indistinct, base truncate, decurrent, sessile, margin entire, straight and not crispate, apex acuminate. Sporophylls homomorphic with trophophylls; sporangia slightly visible on both sides of sporophylls, yellowish, reniform.

In the past, Huperzia chinensis was treated to include H. miyoshiana and H. emeiensis and other names.

● Meadows, rock crevices; 2000-4200 m. Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan.