Polystichum amabile (Blume) J. Smith var. chinense Rosenstock, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 13: 130. 1914; Arachniodes abrupta Ching; A. australis Y. T. Hsieh; A. caudata Ching; A. chinensis var. cornopteris (Ching) S. K. Wu & H. He; A. cornopteris Ching; A. costulisora Ching; A. cyrtomifolia Ching; A. damiaoshanensis Y. T. Hsieh; A. falcata Ching; A. gijiangensis Ching; A. huapingensis Ching; A. lanceolata Y. T. Hsieh; A. mengziensis Ching; A. nanchuanensis Ching & Z. Y. Liu; A. nibashanensis Y. T. Hsieh; A. semifertilis Ching; A. setifera Ching; A. simplicior (Makino) Ohwi var. major (Tagawa) Ohwi; A. yaoshanensis (Y. C. Wu) Serizawa; Polystichopsis chinensis (Rosenstock) Holttum; Polystichum amabile var. yaoshanense Y. C. Wu; P. simplicior (Makino) Tagawa var. major Tagawa; Rumohra chinensis (Rosenstock) Ching; R. simplicior (Makino) Ching var. major (Tagawa) H. Itô.

Rhizome shortly creeping, stiff, densely scaly; scales (blackish) brown, linear-lanceolate or subulate, ca. 12 × 0.5-1.5 mm, firmly membranous and spreading. Fronds approximate, 0.4-1.2 m; stipe stramineous, 15-55 cm, 2.5-5(-6) mm in diam., base densely scaly with scales similar to those on rhizome, upward copiously with dark (or coal-black) subulate and remotely denticulate based appressed scales; lamina 2- or 3-pinnate, dark brown or dull green when dried, deltoid-ovate or ovate-oblong, 25-65 × 15-35 cm, papery or subleathery, base cordate, rounded-truncate, or broadly cuneate, apex acuminate, attenuate or abruptly narrowed and acuminate, rachis scaly as distal portion of stipe; pinnae 4-8 pairs, alternate or lower 1(or 2) pairs sometimes opposite, with to 2.5 cm stalk, obliquely spreading, remote, contiguous, or imbricate; lowest pinna deltoid-lanceolate, to 22 × 12 cm, base broadly cuneate, apex acuminate; primary pinnules ca. 17 pairs, with to 0.5 cm stalk, linear-lanceolate or oblong, gradually shortened, or proximal 1(or 2) pairs especially basiscopic ones elongated (to 12 × 3.5 cm), base broadly cuneate, apex acuminate; secondary pinnules shortly stalked or sessile, oblong or falcate, ca. 2 × 1 cm, base acroscopically truncate and auriculate, basiscopically cuneate, apex acute or obtuse, margin serrate or pinnatifid, aristate; upper pinnae gradually reduced; axes and veins of ultimate segments with minute (blackish) brown, broad-based and denticulate-margined, appressed subulate scales abaxially. Sori terminal on veinlets, 1-8 pairs per ultimate segment, medial between midvein and margin or closer to midvein, remote or contiguous when mature; indusia brown, firmly membranous, subentire, ciliate or lacerate on margin. 2n = 82.

This fern morphologically varies greatly in different habitats. Plants under shaded places normally exhibit broader, less-dissected, coarser, and more approximate segments with contiguous mature sori.

Shaded slopes in dense woods, on wet rocks or ravines, more often in evergreen broad-leaved forests; 200-1700(-2100) m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam].