Athyrium pachyphyllum Ching

Rhizomes short, erect or ascending, apex densely scaly; scales red-brown, linear-lanceolate, apex fibriform. Fronds caespitose; fertile fronds (20-)35-78 cm; stipe brown at base, upward stramineous, shiny, (8-)15-30 cm, (1-)2-2.5 mm in diam., base similarly densely scaly, upward glabrate; lamina pinnate, oblong-lanceolate, (12-)20-35 × (3.5-)7-9 cm, base slightly narrowed, apex acuminate; pinnae (7 or)8-12 pairs, alternate, ascending, subsessile, basal 1 or 2 pairs of pinnae slightly shortened, base slightly narrowed; middle pinnae oblong-lanceolate, (1.8-)5.5-6 × 1.5-2 cm, base subequilateral, rounded-truncate, broadened, pinnatipartite to 1/2-2/3, apex shortly acuminate; pinna segments 10-12 pairs, basal segments subopposite, upper segments alternate, approximate, slightly ascending, oblong, 3-4 × 2.5-3 mm, minutely toothed, apex obtuse-rounded; veins inconspicuous adaxially, visible abaxially, pinnate in segments, lateral veins 3 or 4 pairs, oblique, simple. Lamina papery when dried, brown, glabrate, rachis stramineous, rachis and costae with sparse brownish short glandular hairs abaxially. Sori shortly linear or oblong, occasionally J-shaped or elliptic, 2 or 3 pairs per segment; indusia degenerate. Perispore surface without folds, with granular ornamentation.

It is a tropical plant. In Yunnan in China it grows between 400-1,500 m above sea level. It grows in evergreen broad-leaved forests.

The leaves or fronds are cooked and eaten in stir-fries or with other foods and in soups. They are used fresh or dried.