Polypodium asterolepis Baker, J. Bot. 26: 230. 1888; Lepisorus longipes Ching & Z. Y. Liu; L. macrosphaerus (Baker) Ching var. asterolepis (Baker) Ching; P. excavatum Bory ex Willdenow var. asterolepis (Baker) C. Christensen; P. macrosphaerum Baker var. asterolepis (Baker) C. Christensen.

Plants 12-28 cm tall. Rhizomes long and creeping, 1.8-3 mm in diam., mostly naked and brown, densely scaly when young; scales basifixed, brown with paler margins, acuminately ovate to ovate, 1.2-2 × 0.8-1.5 mm, margin entire; lumina uniformly small and dense, transparent. Fronds 0.5-2 cm apart; stipe straw-colored, 3-7(-15) cm, 1-2 mm in diam.; lamina normally yellow or yellowish on both surfaces when dried, broadly lanceolate, (10-)15-30 × 1.2-4 cm, widest 1/3 from base, leathery, glabrous, or occasionally with sparse adnate scales, base abruptly attenuate, cuneate and decurrent, margin usually flat or slightly undulate, apex rounded-obtuse; costa raised on both sides, veinlets faintly visible. Sori on distal half of lamina, midway between costa and margins, orbicular or elliptic, 3-4 mm in diam., raised abaxially and sunken adaxially; paraphyses brown, orbicular, 0.4-0.55 mm in diam., transparent.

The combination Lepisorus asterolepis was not validated in the place of publication usually given (Fl. Jiangsu 1: 74. 1977) as there was no reference to the basionym.

On tree trunks or rocks in forests; 700-2000(-3500) m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [S India, Japan, Nepal].