Polystichum qamdoense var. elongatum Ching & S. K. Wu; P. tumbatzense Ching.

Plants summer-green. Rhizome erect, densely covered with broadly lanceolate brown scales. Fronds 30-40 cm; stipe brown, 8-13 cm, ca. 2 mm in diam. at base, lower part persistent, scaly; scales brown, ovate and linear, gradually sparser toward lamina apex. Lamina bipinnatipartite, lanceolate, 24-30 × 3-4 cm, gradually contracted to base, acuminate; rachis without proliferous bulbils, stramineous, lower part often brown, adaxially scaly; scales brown, lanceolate and linear. Pinnae 24-30 pairs, alternate, attached at right angles to rachis, sessile, deltoid-lanceolate, middle pairs 1.5-2 cm × 8-10 mm, bases oblique and nearly truncate, auriculate acroscopically, pinnatipartite, apices acute. Lobes 3 or 4(or 5) pairs, nearly opposite, slightly ascendant, approximate, oblong or obovate; abaxially with long-filiform microscales, distal margins toothed; frond texture papery; venation pinnate on lobes, flat abaxially, slightly raised adaxially. Sori in 1 row on each side of midrib of pinna; indusia present, toothed.

The relationships between Polystichum qamdoense and P. sinense are unclear.

● Alpine coniferous forests, meadows; 3000-4200 m. Gansu, W Sichuan, E and SE Xizang, NW Yunnan.