Description from
Flora of China
Dryopteris bissetiana (Baker) C. Christensen var. sacrosancta (Koidzumi) H. Itô; D. tieanzuensis Ching & P. S. Chiu; D. varia (Linnaeus) Kuntze subsp. sacrosancta (Koidzumi) Sugimoto; D. varia var. sacrosancta (Koidzumi) Ohwi; Polystichum bissetianum (Baker) Nakai var. sacrosanctum (Koidzumi) Nakai; P. sacrosanctum (Koidzumi) Koidzumi.
Rhizome ascending, apex densely covered with narrowly lanceolate, dark brown scales. Fronds caespitose. Stipes 15-20 cm, densely clothed with scales at base; scales black at center, brown on margin, lanceolate, 1-1.2 cm × 1-1.5 mm. Lamina ovate-lanceolate, 25-30 × 15-20 cm, cordate, tripinnate, acuminate. Pinnae 10-13 pairs, alternate or subopposite, ovate-lanceolate; lowest pinnae largest, 13-18 × 7-10 cm, with 8-10 mm stalks, acuminate and curved upward at apex. Pinnules 8-10 pairs, lanceolate; basal basiscopic pinnules larger than acroscopic; lowest basiscopic pinnule on lowest pinna largest, up to 7 × 2.5 cm, cordate and stalked. Ultimate pinnules on lowest basiscopic pinnule 5-7 pairs, pinnatilobate or serrate, acute or obtuse. Veins pinnate; veinlets simple or forked. Lamina thickly papery or subleathery; rachis covered with brown, lanceolate scales; pinna rachis and pinnule rachis covered with brown, bullate scales. Sori on either side of costa; indusia brown, reniform, entire or erose. n = 123.
Dryopteris kobayashii Kitagawa (Rep. Exped. Manchoukuo Sect. IV, Pt. 2, Contr. Cogn. Fl. Manshuricae, 56. 1935), described from N China, was treated as a synonym of D. sacrosancta by Fraser-Jenkins (Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Bot. 14: 209. 1986).
Temperate forests. Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].