Cheilanthes rufa D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 16. 1825.

Rhizomes erect, short; scales bicolorous, black with narrow brown margins, narrowly lanceolate. Fronds clustered. Stipe dark brown or black, lustrous, usually noticeably shorter than lamina, 3-9 cm × 1-2 mm, densely scaly and hairy; scales light orangish brown, narrowly lanceolate to hairlike. Lamina oblong, 4-12 × 2-7 cm, pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous or papery when dry, with milky yellow farina and also dense hairs and scales abaxially, with sparse linear-lanceolate scales and multicellular hairs adaxially; rachis and costae scales similar to those of stipe; pinnae 4-10 pairs, opposite, sessile, distinct along rachis, often relatively straight and spreading, basal pair of pinnae oblong-triangular or oblong-lanceolate, 2-4 × 1-2 cm, inequilateral, pinnatifid; segments 5-8 pairs, basal basiscopic pinnules longer than adjacent acroscopic ones, 1-1.5 cm × 2-4 mm, oblong; second and upper pairs of pinnae oblong-lanceolate, pinnatifid. Sori consisting of several sporangia, confluent at maturity. False indusia interrupted, with fimbriate margins. 2n = 58.

Rock crevices on slopes, rock walls; 1000-3000 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan [India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand].