Polypodium adnascens Swartz, Syn. Fil. 25, 222. 1806; Cyclophorus adnascens (Swartz) Desvaux; C. pustulosus Christ; Niphobolus adnascens (Swartz) Kaulfuss; Pyrrosia adnascens f. calcicola K. H. Shing.

Rhizome long creeping, ca. 1 mm thick, in cross section usually with a single, central sclerenchyma strand; phyllopodia 1-2 cm apart, lateral buds alternating with phyllopodia. Scales peltate, 3-5 × ca. 1 mm, base entire to ciliate; acumen light brown, often with a distinct hyaline margin, ciliate. Fronds dimorphic. Sterile fronds: stipe 1-1.5 cm; lamina 1-6 × 0.8-2 cm, base cuneate, apex rounded. Fertile fronds very gradually narrowed at base to a stipe of up to 5 cm; lamina 8-25 × 0.45-0.8 cm, apex obtuse to acute. Hydathodes rarely present, few and indistinct. Indument monomorphic, mostly sparse, whitish to brown; hairs 0.2-1.2 mm with spreading to appressed, boat-shaped to ± acicular rays. Sori distinctly sunken, with a distinct central bundle of stellate paraphyses. Sporangia with stalks 1.5-2 × as long as capsule.

The whole plant is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Reviewer Ralf Knapp notes that, in Taiwan, this taxon is included in a broadly defined Pyrrosia lanceolata (e.g., Yang & Liu, Man. Taiwan Vasc. Pl. 6: 96. 2002; Knapp, Ferns Fern Allies Taiwan, 338. 2011).

Polypodium pertusum Roxburgh ex Hooker (Exot. Fl. 3: t. 162. 1827) is a Pyrrosia, probably belonging here.

On tree trunks or rocks; sea level to 1300 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, N India, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].