Polypodium drakeanum Franchet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., sér. 2, 7: 165. 1883; Cyclophorus drakeanus (Franchet) C. Christensen; Niphobolus drakeanus Diels; N. drakeanus f. elongata Christ ex Diels; Pyrrosia pseudodrakeana K. H. Shing.

Plants 25-70 cm tall. Rhizome short or occasionally shortly elongated, 2-7 mm in diam., in cross section with many scattered sclerenchyma strands; phyllopodia contiguous or up to 2.5 cm apart, lateral buds on or close to internodes. Scales pseudopeltate, 2.5-11 × 0.6-1.3 mm, base entire to ciliate; acumen dull brown to blackish with a straw-colored margin, dentate to ciliate. Fronds monomorphic, stipitate; stipe 10-30 cm, (0.1-)2 × as long as lamina; lamina widest below or at middle, 12-36 × 4-8(-10) cm, base truncate to ± abruptly cuneate, usually asymmetrical, sometimes with an obtuse, short tooth on one side, apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate. Hydathodes distinct, superficial to slightly prominent. Indument persistent, dense, brown, dimorphic, upper layer of hairs (0.8-)1-1.6 mm in diam., with acicular rays, ± mixed with a lower layer with woolly rays. Sori superficial, without central bundle of paraphyses. Sporangia sessile or with stalks up to 0.5 × as long as capsule.

The name Pyrrosia intermedia Goy was mistakenly applied to this species by Shing (Amer. Fern J. 73(3): 78. 1983). Pyrrosia pseudodrakeana was distinguished by a more appressed indument with smaller hairs with boat-shaped rays; but this represents just one extreme of a gradual variation, and it cannot be reliably distinguished.

Mixed forests on mountain slopes, on tree trunks, on rocks or rocky cliffs, on slopes, beside streams; 1000-3600 m. Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [India].