Polypodium flocculosum D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 1. 1825; Apalophlebia flocculosa (D. Don) C. Presl; Cyclophorus annamensis (Christ) C. Christensen; C. flocculosus (D. Don) C. Christensen; C. rhomboidalis Bonaparte; Niphobolus annamensis Christ; N. flocculosus (D. Don) Sprengel; Pyrrosia mollis (Kunze) Ching f. rhomboidalis (Bonaparte) C. Christensen & Tardieu; P. rhomboidalis (Bonaparte) Ching.

Plants 25-50 cm tall. Rhizome short, 3.4-6 mm in diam.; in cross section with 10 to ca. 25 scattered sclerenchyma strands; phyllopodia close together, lateral buds basal on phyllopodia. Scales pseudopeltate, 4-5.7 × 0.5-1 mm, base entire to irregularly dentate; acumen dull brown to blackish, dentate, entire toward apex. Fronds monomorphic, stipitate; stipe 6-20 cm, 0.25-1 × as long as lamina; lamina widest around or below middle, often slightly lyrate, 9-32 × 1.3-7.8 cm, base cuneate to truncate, occasionally ± cordate, apex acuminate, occasionally acute. Hydathodes distinct, superficial to distinctly sunken. Indument persistent, dimorphic, thin to dense, light dirty grayish; upper layer with hairs 0.3-2.2 mm in diam., with spreading to appressed, boat-shaped to acicular rays, lower layer with mainly woolly rays. Sori superficial, without central bundle of paraphyses. Sporangia with stalks 0.33-1 × as long as capsule.

On tree trunks or rocks in forests; sea level to 700 m. Guangxi, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].