Asplenium strigillosum E. J. Lowe, Ferns 5: 107. 1858; A. tenellum C. Hope, p.p. (1899), not Roxburgh (1816), nor Fée (1850); Athyrium clarkei Beddome var. membranaceum Rosenstock; A. nigripes (Blume) T. Moore var. tenuifrons (Wallich ex Sim) Beddome; A. petiolosum Christ (1907), not Milde (1870); A. setiferum C. Christensen; A. tenuifrons Wallich ex Sim.

Rhizomes short, stout, erect, apex with sparse blackish brown or brown, lanceolate scales. Fronds caespitose; fertile fronds 55-90 cm; stipe blackish brown, upward stramineous, 25-35 cm, 2-3 mm in diam., base similarly scaly, upward glabrate; lamina 2-pinnate, oblong-lanceolate, 25-45 × 10-15 cm at middle, base hardly narrowed, apex acuminate; pinnae ca. 18 pairs, lower pinnae opposite or subopposite, upper pinnae alternate, ascending, with short stalk 2-4 mm, basal 1-3 pairs of pinnae slightly shortened, base not narrowed; middle pinnae lanceolate, somewhat falcate, 6.5-10 × 2.5-3.5 cm, base broadly rounded, pinnate, apex acuminate; pinnules 12-16 pairs, alternate, ascending, approximate, basal pinnules larger, oblong-ovate, 1-1.5 cm × 6-8 mm, base inequilateral, ± adnate to costae, truncate, parallel to costae on acroscopic side, cuneate and decurrent on basiscopic side, cut to 1/2, apex acute, with long teeth; upper pinnules similar to basal pinnules, but gradually smaller, widened, decurrent and adnate to wing of costule; veins visible on both surfaces, pinnate in small segments, lateral veins 4-6 pairs, oblique. Lamina herbaceous when dried, greenish brown or green, glabrate; rachis and costae stramineous, with needlelike spines on adaxial side at base of costa and costule, scaly bulbils usually 1 per lamina, borne at upper portion of rachis. Sori oblong, 1 per segment (sometimes 2 or 3 in basal segments), 4 or 5 per pinnule, lateral on acroscopic veins; indusia brown, oblong, membranous, entire, fugacious at maturity. Perispore surface without folds. 2n = 80, 160.

Wet areas in forests, streamsides in valleys; (600-)1700-2600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Japan, Kashmir, Myanmar, Nepal].