Rhizome long-scandent, brown, 1-1.5 mm ø; scales deciduous, dorsally more persistent, golden-brown, to c. 2.5 mm long, elongate-ovate, to c. 20-seriate at base, with a very short uniseriate apex. Leaves 1-3 cm apart, issuing ät a small angle but usually curved to right angles with the rhizome; petioles stramineous to pale brown, rarely darker and then pale-margined, quadrangular, laterally ± sulcate, 5-20 cm long, shorter than the lamina. Lamina linear, 20-40 cm long, 3-6.5 cm wide, shortly to very shortly acuminate, shortly narrowed or more often abrupt at the base, with 20-50 pinnules to a side; rachis stramineous, adaxially shallowly sulcate, or flat at the base. Some basal pinnules inserted below the edges of the adaxial face of the rachis, spreading or slightly ascending, rather variable in shape, narrowly triangular to subtrapezoidal, narrowed from base to apex and acute or less narrowed and with truncate apex, the apex occasionally caudate-protracted; texture herbaceous, colour medium to dark green when dry. Larger pinnules 2-3 cm long, 4-7 mm wide, 4-5 times as long as wide; lower margin mostly at least at the base concave, upper margin straight or ± convex, with c. 6-8 major incisions, these slightly oblique, almost parallel, towards the apex of the pinnule progressively deeper, the inner ones 1-2 mm deep, reaching to 1/5-1/3 (rarely deeper and reaching beyond the middle), the outer ones at least 2 mm deep, reaching to the middle or far beyond; inner lobes often more shallowly incised again; lobes little narrowed, almost parallel-sided, rounded at apex, uni-or binerval. Pinnule-apex sometimes protracted into a pinnatifid cauda. Lower pinnules not remote and reduced or very few more remote and/or slightly reduced; some upper pinnules gradually reduced, confluent into a pinnatifid leaf-apex. Juvenile plants without the deeply incised pinnules found in L. repens. Veins immersed, evident, once or twice forked, or the outer ones simple. Sori bi-or more often uninerval; indusium entire, if binerval elongate and with concave base, if uninerval reniform to hippocrepiform, 0.5-1 mm long, 0.6 mm wide, falling short of the margin by 0.5-1 times its width, strongly reflexed, often shrivelled and not visible at maturity. Spores pale yellowish, hyaline, trilete, smooth, c. 23 μ.
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