Plants 60-80 cm tall. Rhizome erect, short, ca. 1 cm in diam., apex with yellowish brown scales. Fronds clustered; stipe reddish brown at base, 25-55 cm, 2-3 mm in diam.; stipe and rachis straw-colored or brown-straw-colored, slightly lustrous, glabrous; lamina 2(or 3)-pinnatipartite, ovate in outline, 25-35(-40) × 20-25(-30) cm; lateral pinnae 4-9 pairs, opposite, spreading or ascending, basal pairs 3-4 cm apart, sessile, linear-lanceolate, straight or somewhat falcate, 12-16(-18) × 1.8-3.7 cm, base subtruncate or rounded-truncate, pectinate and forming narrow wings along costae, apex acuminate or long caudate (2-4 cm); upper pinnae slightly smaller than basal ones, spreading or oblique; apical pinnae similar to lateral pinnae but wider, sometimes narrower at base, stalked (1-2 cm); basal pair of pinnae often branched basiscopically near base, branch similar to main part of pinna but smaller; segments 23-28 pairs, alternate or subopposite, contiguous or at intervals of ca. 1 mm, slightly oblique, oblong, sometimes falcate, 1-1.5 cm × 4-5 mm, base slightly expanded, margin entire, apex obtuse; costae prominent abaxially, straw-colored, glabrous, adaxially grooved, with short and flat spines along groove, midvein sparsely spiny, spines sometimes poorly developed; veins conspicuous on both surfaces, oblique, 2-forked from base, veins at segment base oblique, reaching margin of incision. Lamina grass-green, thinly herbaceous when dried, glabrous.

Open forests, near river margins; 300-1200 m. Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, S Yunnan [Japan].