Davallia solida (G. Forster) Swartz var. sinensis Christ, Bull. Herb. Boissier 7: 18. 1899.

Rhizome long creeping, robust, 6-8 mm in diam., densely covered with scales. Scales dark brown, ovate, long subulate upward, ca. 7 mm, margin ciliate. Fronds remote, 2-3 cm apart; stipe brownish stramineous, adaxially grooved, 12-15 cm, 2-2.5 mm in diam., base densely covered with brown scales; lamina dark brown when dry, tripinnate or base 4-pinnate-pinnatifid, pentagonal, 18-22 × 18-22 cm, thickly papery, base cordate, apex acuminate, shallowly dentate. Petiolules 4-6 mm; pinnae ca. 10 pairs, basal 2 pairs subopposite, alternate upward, apex obtuse or acute, largest pinnae triangular, 10-12 × 8-10 cm; upper pinnae shortened to oblong-lanceolate, base oblique, apex shortly acuminate; pinnules 8-10 pairs, shortly stalked, alternate, with first basiscopic pinnule enlarged, oblong-lanceolate, 5-6 × 2.5-3 cm, base cuneate, pinnatipartite to rachillae with narrow wing, apex acute; ultimate pinnae ca. 6 pairs, subsessile, basal pairs larger, oblong, 10-12 × 4-5 mm, base cuneate, decurrent, apex rounded-obtuse. Veins brown, palmately forked, distinct abaxially. Sori separate, borne several on a segment, each at forking point of veins; indusium rufous, attached along sides, submarginal to lamina, tubular, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, thickly membranous, apex truncate.

One of us (Nooteboom) considers Davallia sinensis to be a synonym of D. solida and notes that, having seen the type of D. solida var. sinensis, it falls well in the variability of D. solida. However, two of us (Xing and Wang) prefer to recognize two species on account of differences in the texture of the scales and in the apices of the pinnae, according to field observations and specimens.

Wet forests, near streams, epilithic on rocks or epiphytic on tree trunks; 500-1400 m. Guangxi, Yunnan [Vietnam].