Gleichenia laevissima Christ, Bull. Acad. Int. Géogr. Bot. 11: 268. 1902; Dicranopteris laevissima (Christ) Nakai; G. kiusiana Makino; Hicriopteris laevissima (Christ) Ching; Mertensia laevissima (Christ) Nakai.

Plants 1-1.5 m tall. Rhizomes creeping, dark brown, cylindric, covered with brown scales. Fronds 2-pinnate; pinnae opposite, ovate-oblong, 30-50 × 20-26 cm; pinnules alternate, 20-30 on each side, pinnatisect, narrowly lanceolate, 12-18 × 1.5-2.5 cm, base attenuate, apex caudate-acuminate; lobes alternate, 25-40 on each side, obliquely spreading, lanceolate, 7-13 × ca. 2 mm, apex acute; lamina thinly leathery, greenish gray abaxially, glabrous; costae flat adaxially; veins prominent on both surfaces. Sori orbicular, exindusiate, with 4 or 5 sporangia.

Forests, mountain slopes, forest margins; 500-2500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Philippines, Vietnam].