Rhizome short; scales dark, rigid, glossy, somewhat contorted, 5 by ½ mm, hair-pointed with some lateral stiff hairs; phyllopodia 1 cm long. Sterile frond: stipe 22 cm long, pale, bearing scales of various sizes from very small to 5 mm long, the latter as those on rhizome but narrower; lamina thinly coriaceous, 19½ by 3 cm, widest ⅓ from apex, tapered gradually towards base which is not decurrent, towards apex narrowed a little and then rounded; thin pale edge very narrow; veins distinct; costa prominent and rounded beneath; scales on both surfaces abundant, dark brown, glossy, very narrow, mostly 1-2 mm long, with spreading rigid marginal hairs each consisting of one dark cylindrical cell with a small pale cell at its apex (not seen at x 10 magnification); many scales 1 mm long attached close to edge of lamina and spreading beyond it. Fertile frond not seen.