Stems creeping, not cordlike, internodes short, heavily beset with old petiole bases, hairs absent; scales usually tan to light brown, lanceolate, radial walls tan to brown, thin, luminae tan. Leaves monomorphic, crowded near stem apex, to 45 cm, nearly all bearing sori. Petiole variable in color but mostly dark brown at base, gradually becoming straw-colored distally, shorter than blade, sparsely scaly at base. Blade deltate to narrowly deltate, 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, usually widest at or near base, apex short-attenuate; rachis and costae with occasional unicellular, gland-tipped hairs, with or without bulblets (usually misshapen); axils of pinnae with infrequent multicellular, gland-tipped hairs. Pinnae usually perpendicular to rachis, not curving toward blade apex, margins serrate; proximal pinnae pinnatifid to pinnate-pinnatifid, ± equilateral, basiscopic pinnules not enlarged, basal basiscopic pinnules sessile to short-stalked, base truncate to obtuse; distal pinnae ovate to oblong. Veins directed into teeth and notches. Indusia cup-shaped, apex truncate, with scattered, unicellular, gland-tipped hairs. Spores spiny, usually 38--42 µm. 2 n = 168.
