Rhizome slender, far-creeping, branched; clad in dark red-brown hairs; stipites distributed along rhizome. Stipes up to 20 cm. × 2 mm., dark red-brown, shining, with rather sparse hairs, muriculate (as is rhachis). Rhachis nude or sparsely hairy, red-brown; costae us. paler; pinnae opp. or nearly so, nearly ∞ to axis, distant, up to 5 cm. apart, subcoriac. Lamina 15-40 × 7-20 cm., ovate-lanceolate to almost deltoid, acuminate, bipinnate. Lower primary pinnae 5-12 × 1-3 cm., narrow ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; upper diminishing to final segs. Secondary pinnae rather distant, subopp. to alt., lanceolate, c. 15 × 5 mm., pinnatifid to pinnatisect. Segs deltoid-triangular to ovate-oblong, up to 2 mm. long, often with a few teeth. Sori slightly protected, 1-1·5 mm. diam., up to 10 per pinnule, sinuses in subregular rows near each margin.

Rhizome long-creeping, 1-2.25 mm diam., abundantly covered in dark red-brown hairs 2- 3.5 mm long, giving rise to stipes at intervals of 3- 7 cm. Stipes 5-50(60) cm long, 0.75-1.25 mm diam., dark red-brown, bearing a few scattered redbrown hairs at base. Laminae narrowly elliptic to elliptic or ovate, (15)25-60(95) × 9-30(40) cm, rather stiff and harsh to the touch, bipinnate at apex to almost tripinnate at base (truly tripinnate in largest specimens). Rachis dark red-brown becoming paler only at the very apex, bearing scattered pale brown hairs. lry pinnae in 20-40 pairs (more in very large specimens), opposite or subopposite, arising at c. 90 to rachis, the longest at or below middle 5-20 × 1.7-6 cm; lowest pinnae (2)4- 12(20) cm apart, middle pinnae (1)2-5(6) cm apart, narrowly ovate or triangular, midrib narrowly winged throughout; lowest pair orientated at 90° to plane of frond in largest specimens. 2ry pinnae sessile or shortly stalked, ovate to narrowly ovate, longest 0.8-3(4) × 0.4-0.7(1) cm, doubly serrate with 3-9 primary serrations on each side of longest 2ry pinna (divided to the midrib in tripinnate forms); those on lower 1ry pinnae ± equal in length, only decreasing in size towards the very apex of each pinna. Veins reaching margin at a sinus (emarginate). Hairs virtually absent on upper surface of frond, a few scattered pale-brown non-glandular hairs on underside of costae and midribs. Sori in 2-8 pairs on longest 2ry pinnae, marginal, terminating veins on sides of ultimate segments, protected by reflexed, incised membranous flaps. Spores appearing dark brown under light microscope with reticulate perispore lacking obvious projections (28)31-34(40) × (18)19-21(24) urn (6 populations). See Fig. 2B, 3A, 5, and 18A.

n = 28