Fronds tufted, erect to 50 cm long. Stipe to 20 cm long, stipe and rachis densely covered with brownish black ciliate scales. Lamina lanceolate, once pinnate, herbaceous, often shining. Pinnae up to 20 pairs, subsessile, linear-oblong to lanceolate, margins serrulate, apex acuminate, base truncate to cordate; both surfaces glabrous or with scattered brown scales; veins obscure except for midvein. Sori scattered around midvein.
Native to mountainous areas of northern India, China, Taiwan and Japan. The name Dryopteris atrata (Kunze) Ching seems to have been widely misapplied to this taxon in horticulture. Only known in Australia from a single record (and single plant) at Earimil Creek Bushland Reserve, at Mt Eliza, Mornington Peninsula. Presumably an escapee from nearby gardens. The species was not found during a search of the site in 2022.
