Rhizome long-creeping, 2-4 mm diam., covered in red-brown hairs up to 2.5 mm long, stipes arising at intervals of 9-20 cm (abundant near growing tip, sparse elsewhere). Stipes 8-60 cm long, 1.5- 5 mm diam., red-brown at very base, becoming pale red-brown or yellow-brown above, covered at base in red-brown hairs, up to 3 mm long, becoming sparse above and paler. Laminae ovate or broadly ovate, 20-120 × 15-100 cm, bipinnate at apex, tripinnate or quadripinnate below. Rachis red-brown or yellow-brown at base becoming green at apex, sparsely covered in pale brown hairs like those of stipe. 1ry pinnae in 22-30 pairs, opposite or subopposite, the lowest arising at 20-50° to stem, upper ones at 70-90°, the longest near the base 15- 55 × 8.5-27 cm; lowest ones 5-24 cm apart, middle ones 1.5-8 cm apart; upper ones narrowly ovate or + parallel-sided, lower ones ovate or broadly ovate, narrowly winged. 2ry pinnae narrowly ovate or ± parallel-sided, broadly winged, 5-16 × 2-5.3 cm, those on the lower pinnae decreasing markedly in length along the pinnae. 3ry pinnae narrowly ovate or parallel-sided, 1-3 × 0.5-1.2 cm. 4ry pinnae (when present) 0.25-0.8 × 0.15-0.4 cm. Veins reaching margin at tooth apex. Hairs: glistening colourless non-glandular hairs on underside of lamina, costae and midribs, absent from lamina margin; brown-tinged hairs on upper surfaces, abundant on midribs; 0.3-1 mm long (mostly c. 0.5 mm), those on pinna midribs and costae often longer. Sori: one on acroscopic edge of each ultimate segment, originating away from margin; protected at maturity by slightly reflexed pinnule margin which also often bears a few short hairs at this point; hairs also often present in sorus (0.3- 0.5 mm long). Spores very pale under light microscope, perispores of inter-connecting flattened projections, (32)36-41(44) × (21)22-28(31) mcm (12 populations). See Fig. 1C, 2C, 4B, 13, and 18E.

n = 104

n = 104

n = 104