Trichomanes latemarginale D. C. Eaton, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 4: 111. 1858; Crepidomanes hainanense Ching; C. palmifolium (Hayata) De Vol; C. pinnatifidum Ching & P. S. Chiu; T. nanum Bosch (1863), not (Bory) Hooker (1844); T. palmifolium Hayata.

Plants 1-3 cm tall. Rhizome brown or dark brown, 0.2-0.3 mm in diam., densely covered with short brown hairs. Stipes remote, 2-6 mm apart, brown, 1-10 mm, with short hairs at base, glabrous upward, narrowly winged at apex. Rachis dark brown, broadly or narrowly winged throughout, glabrous. Lamina 1-pinnate to bipinnatifid or digitate, narrowly linear to oblong-ovate or nearly fan-shaped, 0.5-2 × 0.4-1 cm, base cuneate, apex obtuse or truncate to acuminate; ultimate segments 1-3 mm apart, alternate, simple or forked, linear-oblong, 2-10 × 0.4-2 mm, membranous and semitransparent, glabrous, margin entire or slightly wavy, apex obtuse. Veins dichotomous, dark brown, slightly raised on each surface, glabrous, with a single veinlet, false veinlets marginal, continuous, with 2 rows of marginal cells outside false veinlets, with 1 or 2 rows of false veinlets present. Sori terminal on long lobes or apical on short acroscopic segments; involucres ca. 1.2 × 1 mm, broadly winged, tubular or urn-shaped with bilabiate mouth, mouth dilated; receptacles projecting, dark brown, slender, 2-3 mm. 2n = 108.

On muddy or moss-covered rocks in mixed or evergreen forests; low elevations to 2000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, Taiwan, SE Yunnan [India (Andaman Islands, Assam), Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam].