Arachniodes attenuata Ching; A. chinensis (Rosenstock) Ching var. jinpingensis (Y. T. Hsieh) S. K. Wu & H. He; A. hekouensis Ching; A. valida Y. T. Hsieh.

Rhizome shortly creeping, stiff, densely scaly; scales reddish brown, linear-subulate, ca. 8 × 0.5-1.5 mm, firmly membranous. Fronds approximate, 0.7-1 m; stipe stramineous, 30-45 cm, 3-6 mm in diam., base with scales similar to those on rhizome, upward with appressed (blackish) brown subulate and denticulate-based scales; lamina 3-pinnate, dull greenish when dried, ovate-oblong, 45-56 × 24-38 cm, (firm) papery, base truncate or hastate, apex abruptly narrowed and elongated acute, rachis scaly as distal portion of stipe; pinnae 6-9 pairs, alternate or lower 1(-5) pairs opposite, with to 2 cm stalk, spreading; lowest pinnae hastate, 19-26 × 12-15 cm, base rounded, apex abruptly narrowed and acuminate; primary pinnules ca. 24 pairs, shortly stalked, contiguous, lanceolate or distally slightly falcate, proximal 1(or 2) pairs elongated (12-15 × 2-3 cm), base rounded, apex acuminate; secondary pinnules ca. 17 pairs, shortly stalked or sessile, contiguous, oblong, ca. 1.7 × 0.7 cm, base acroscopically obliquely truncate and auriculate, basiscopically cuneate, apex acute, margin serrate or pinnatifid, aristate; upper 2(or 3) pinnae with proximal pairs of pinnules longer, others gradually reduced and linear-lanceolate; axes and veins of ultimate segments with brown linear-subulate and denticulate-based scales and sometimes with short multicellular hairs along veins abaxially. Sori terminal on veinlets, 5 or 6 pairs per ultimate pinnule, medial between midvein and margin, or closer to midvein; indusia dark brown, firmly membranous, ciliate or erose when immature, fugacious.

● Slopes in broad-leaved forests, thickets on shaded slopes, arid open forests; 800-1500(-2100) m. S Yunnan.