Blechnum melanopus Hooker, Sp. Fil. 3: 64. 1859; Blechnidium plagiogyriifrons (Hayata) Hayata; Blechnum plagiogyriifrons Hayata.

Rhizome dark brown, long creeping, ca. 3 mm in diam., densely scaly; scales rufous, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, membranous, subentire, acuminate or fibriform. Fronds distant, long stipitate; stipe dark brown, 12-25 cm, ca. 1 mm in diam., grooved adaxially, sparsely scaly at base; lamina brownish green when dry, lanceolate, 15-25 × 3-7 cm, subleathery, both surfaces glabrous, gradually narrowed to base, pectinate, acuminate; pinnae 15-25 pairs, adnate; middle ones oblong, usually subfalcate, 1.5-5 × 0.5-1 cm, entire, subacute or obtuse; lower pinnae shortened, 0.4-1.3 cm; veins inconspicuous, anastomosing with 1-3 rows of hexagonal areoles. Sori linear, adjacent and parallel to costa; indusium attached to commissure, linear, facing toward costa. Spores elliptic, with perispore.

Epiphytic on tree trunks or epilithic in forests; 800-2800 m. Guizhou (Guiding), Taiwan, Yunnan [India, Myanmar].