Plants ca. 85 cm tall. Rhizome not seen. Stipe reddish brown, shiny, ca. 30 cm, scaly at base; scales reddish brown, linear-lanceolate, glabrous, or occasionally with a few long hairs dorsally, including rachises with sparse whitish acicular hairs; lamina to ca. 55 × 16 cm, slightly tapering at base, pinnate-pinnatifid, shortly acuminate and pinnatifid at apex; pinnae ca. 25 pairs, opposite or subopposite, proximal 1 or 2 pairs sessile, spreading, proximal pair shortest, ca. 5 cm, middle pinnae ca. 8 × 1.5-2 cm, linear-lanceolate, truncate and symmetrical at bases, pinnatifid to 3/4 of distance to costae, acute at apices; segments ca. 20 pairs per pinna, rectangular, 7-8 × 4-5 mm, entire. Veins visible abaxially, 4 or 5 pairs per segment, basal pair arising from above base of costules. Laminae thinly papery, drying green, subglabrous on both surfaces between veins, costae at bases red-castaneous abaxially, distally stramineous, shiny, with sparse acicular hairs. Sori orbicular, borne near tips of acroscopic vein of forked lateral vein pair and close to margin. Sporangia glabrous.

This species is known only from the type.

Pseudophegopteris zayuensis is closely related to P. tibetana, differing primarily by the basiscopic basal pinnule on proximal pinnae not being strongly elongate and the glabrous sporangia. More collections are needed to evaluate the importance of these differences.

● Broad-leaved forests; ca. 2100 m. S Xizang.