Davallia rhomboidea Wallich ex Kunze, Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 8: 158. 1850; D. strigosa (Thunberg) Kunze var. rhomboidea (Wallich ex Kunze) Hooker & Baker, p.p.; Microlepia communis Ching; M. lofoushanensis Ching; M. pallida Ching; M. scyphoformis Ching & Chu H. Wang; M. strigosa (Thunberg) C. Presl f. pinnata Y. C. Wu.

Plants terrestrial, ca. 1.4 m tall. Rhizome stout, ca. 5 mm in diam., densely long brownish acicular hairy. Fronds distant; stipe 60-70 cm, ca. 4 mm in diam., base with long brownish hairs, hairs abscising distally to leave scabrous marks and only sparse, short, brown hairs; rachis and rachillae with dense, short, brown hairs; lamina green when dried, 2- or 3-pinnate, oblong in outline, ca. 70 × 40 cm, herbaceous, both surfaces and veins with sparse, long, acicular hairs, base gradually narrowed, almost half as wide as widest part, apex acuminate; pinnae ca. 15 pairs, alternate, ca. 10 cm apart at base, spreading, with stalk ca. 5 mm, 2-pinnatisect, triangular-oblong or broadly lanceolate, falcate, ca. 25 × 7 cm, base asymmetrically subrounded, apex acuminate; pinnules 9-12 pairs, approximate, almost spreading, with stalk ca. 1 mm, narrowly oblong, ca. 4.5 × 1.2-1.7 cm, base asymmetrical, acroscopically truncate, basiscopically cuneate, slightly decurrent; ultimate pinnules or lobes oblong, apex rounded-obtuse, basal acroscopic lobules largest, margins entire or shallowly notched, apex obtuse to subtruncate. Veins obvious on both surfaces, pinnate at lobules, veinlets furcate. Sori small, at base of lobules; indusium greenish, hemitelioid, sparsely hairy.

Reviewer Ralf Knapp indicates that Microlepia rhomboidea is rare in Taiwan at altitudes of 1400-2000 m (see comment under previous species, M. trapeziformis).

Forests, near streams; 500-1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam].