Japan Flora: Rhizomes stout, short; fronds tufted; stipes 20- 40 cm. long, densely scaly, the scales membranous, pale brown, lustrous, ciliate, the largest spreading, ovate, 8-20 mm. long, 10 mm. wide, abruptly contracted and short-tailed at tip, more dense toward the base, the median scales numerous, ap­pressed to spreading, orbicular-ovate to ovate, 2-6 mm. long, rounded to obtuse, short-tailed at the tip, the smallest ones orbicular to ovate, 1-2 mm. long, appressed, without or with a filiform apical tail much longer than the lower broadened portion of scale; blades 40-100 cm. long, 15-30 cm. wide, ab­ruptly acuminate, slightly narrowed at base, the scales on ra­chis beneath orbicular-ovate to ovate, 2-4 mm. long, retrorsely appressed, scarious on margin, with hair like spreading to deflexed scales 2-3 mm. long especially on upper side; pinnules herbaceous, oblique, ovate to ovate-oblong, obtuse, short spine­tipped, with an obtuse to subacute auricle on anterior side, the teeth ascending to appressed, spine-tipped, the scales hairlike, very sparse and tardily deciduous on upper side, rather promi­nent on under side; sori in 2 series on the pinnules of upper half of blade; indusia impressed. Woods in mountains.

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku. 

var. ovatopaleaceum (Kodama) Tagawa Small­est scales on the stipe usually lanceolate, 2-4 mm. long, spread­ing to deflexed, gradually narrowed to a rather short tail at tip, scales on the under side of rachis antrorsely spreading to ascending; pinnae more densely scaly, appressed-toothed. Woods; Honshu (Kanto Distr. and west'v.), Shikoku, Kyushu.

var. coraiense (Christ) Tagawa. Differs from var. ovatopaleaceum in the narrower and gradually acuminate scales on the underside of rachis. Honshu; rare. Korea.