Rhizome ± erect, to 4 cm long, scaly; scales glossy, dark brown to black, with paler margins. Fronds arcuate. Stipe 15–50 cm long, black at the base, deeply 3-grooved. Lamina 3-pinnate, broadly triangular, 25–55 cm long, 15–40 cm wide, membranous, brittle, pale green. Pinnules oblong, 5–13 mm long, 1.5–9 mm wide; base narrowly attached to the axis; margins bluntly toothed or lobed two-thirds of the way to the costule; apex obtuse. Sori 1–3 mm long, 4–8 per pinnule, mostly single; indusium pale brown, not fragile. See also Green (1994: 598).