Cheilanthes chrysophylla Hooker, Sp. Fil. 2: 113. 1852; Aleuritopteris flavopygmaea S. R. Ghosh; A. humatifolia X. C. Zhang & L. Shi; Cheilanthes argentea (S. G. Gmelin) Kunze var. chrysophylla (Hooker) Hooker; C. farinosa (Forsskål) Kaulfuss var. chrysophylla (Hooker) C. B. Clarke.

Rhizomes erect, short; scales concolorous, dark brown, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate. Fronds clustered. Stipe reddish brown or ebony, lustrous, 2-10 cm × ca. 1 mm, sparsely scaly above base; scales concolorous, reddish brown, linear-lanceolate. Lamina ovate-deltoid, 3-5 × 2-3 cm, pinnate-pinnatifid to bipinnatifid, papery or thinly leathery when dry, abaxially with golden-yellow farina, adaxially glabrous; rachis and costae same color as stipe; pinnae 3 or 4 pairs, subopposite, sessile, basal pair largest, triangular, pinnatifid; pinnules 3 or 4 pairs, alternate; basal basiscopic pinnules largest, lanceolate; second and upper pairs of pinnae gradually shortened distally, lanceolate, pinnatifid. Veins obscure. Sori consisting of several sporangia, confluent at maturity. False indusia continuous, membranous, margins undulate. 2n = 60.

Rock crevices; 1000-2600 m. Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal].