Plants 0.8-1.3 m tall. Rhizome ascending or suberect. Stipe brown, ca. 0.5 m, densely scaly at base; rhizome and basal stipe scales lanceolate, 6-8 × ca. 1 mm. Lamina 2-pinnatifid, 0.7-1 × 0.3-0.6 m; lateral pinnae ca. 15 pairs; basal pinnae usually largest, lanceolate, usually 20-25 × 3-4 cm, lobed 1/2-2/3 toward costule, stalks 1-2 mm, basal basiscopic lobes very elongate, pinnatifid; pinna lobes 20-25 pairs, 2-3 × 0.5-0.8 cm, margins slightly serrate at edge, with a sharp tooth in each sinus, obtuse at apex; lamina herbaceous or thinly papery, brown when dry; costae glabrous; veins free, veinlets 7 or 8 pairs on each lobe, 2-or 3-furcate. Sori (sub-)terminal on veinlets, 5-7 pairs on each lobe; indusia persistent, glabrous.
Home