Diplazium kawakamii Hayata

Plants evergreen, medium-sized to large. Rhizome creeping, dark brown, up to 1 cm in diam., apex with adpressed scales; scales brown or black-brown, broadly ovate, cordate, attached to basal sinus; fronds approximate. Fertile fronds up to 1.7 m; stipe dark stramineous, up to 80 cm, ca. 8 mm in diam., with dense long-stalked scales when young; scales brown or chestnut, shiny, ovate or ovate-cordate, entire or slightly sparsely toothed, attached to stalk with cordate sinus base on apex, deciduous; stalk of scale linear-cylindrical when fresh, slightly flattened after dry, brown, rough hairlike when deciduous, all recurved adpressed on stipe; lamina 2-pinnate with pinnatipartite to pinnatisect pinnules, deltoid, up to 90 × 70 cm, apex acuminate; pinnae up to 15 pairs, alternate, ascending, often slightly asymmetrical (basiscopic pinnule longer), apex acuminate; lower pinnae broadly lanceolate, stalked, basal pinnae largest, up to 50 × 20 cm, stipe up to 4 cm, upper pinnae lanceolate, shortly stalked or sessile; pinnules of lower pinna up to 15 pairs, alternate, spreading, oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate, or narrowly ovate to ovate, base broadly cuneate or shallowly cordate on basiscopic side, shortly stalked or sessile, 1-pinnate pinnatipartite to pinnatisect or pinnule lobes pinnatilobate to pinnatifid, apex long acuminate, acuminate, or acute to rounded; pinnules asymmetrical (middle basiscopic lobes longer) to nearly symmetrical; pinnule lobes up to ca. 10 pairs, alternate, subspreading, oblong, margin sparsely dentate or pinnatilobate to pinnatifid, apex rounded; veins not prominent on adaxial side, visible abaxially, 1-or 2-pinnate, veinlets ascending, mostly forked or simple. Lamina herbaceous, pale green abaxially, gray-green when dry, glabrous; rachis, costa, and costule sparsely scaly, scales light brown, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, base cordate, membranous. Sori oblong, up to 7 pairs per lobe, mostly single or sometimes double on basal acroscopic veinlets, subcostular-inframedial; indusia light brown, oblong, membranous, entire, vaulted, opening acroscopically or irregularly ruptured on back. Spores subreniform, perispore hyaline, with sometimes few rugate, few granular projections.

It is a temperate plant.

The young shoots are used as a vegetable.