Cheilanthes formosana Hayata, Enum. Pl. Formosa, 612. 1906; C. anceps Blanford var. brevifrons Khullar; C. brevifrons (Khullar) Khullar.

Rhizomes erect, short; scales bicolorous, black with pale brown margins, narrowly lanceolate. Fronds clustered. Stipe dark brown, lustrous, 5-23 cm × 1-2 mm, scaly up to rachis; scales bicolorous, grading to concolorous above stipe midpoint, lanceolate. Lamina oblong-lanceolate, 4-17 × 2-7 cm, pinnate-bipinnatifid, papery when dry, abaxially with white farina, adaxially glabrous; rachis and costae same color as stipe; pinnae 4-6 pairs, discrete along rachis, basal pair triangular, bipinnatifid; acroscopic ones smaller, basal basiscopic pinnules largest, 1.5-2.5 × 0.5-1 cm, lanceolate, pinnatifid; second pair of pinnae oblong-lanceolate, shorter and narrower than basal one; third and upper pairs of pinnae lanceolate. Veins obscure. Sori consisting of several sporangia, confluent at maturity. False indusia membranous, relatively broad, interrupted, margins laciniate. 2n = 60.

Rock crevices on slopes; 600-2000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand].