Etymology Greek: lepis, scale + pous, foot

Description Rhizome: erect, scaly.
Frond: 60 cm high by 20 cm wide, deciduous or persistent, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 2:1.
Stipe: grooved, scales narrow long-triangular, brownish to black, margins ciliate, vascular bundles: 3-7 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 2-pinnate near the rachis at the base, less outwards and upwards, oblong-triangular, as wide at the base as the middle, slightly lustrous, stipe scales continue on rachis; sparse, star-shaped scales on the upper surface are deciduous.
Pinnae: 20 to 25 pair, opposite, often slightly curving upward; pinnules oblong; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins apex rounded with small, acute teeth; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, on the upper two-thirds of the blade, indusium: reniform, thick, persistent, at a sinus, sporangia: brown.

Culture Habitat: mountain forests at 1200-1550 m. Distribution: China, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Taiwan. Hardy to -25°C, USDA Zone 5.

Distinctive Characteristics blade as wide at the base as the middle, black scales, rounded pinnules sharply toothed at the apex

Synonyms
Dryopteris nigra Ching
Christella khasiana Lév.
Nephrodium parallelogrammum f. khasiana (Clarke) Hope
Dryopteris taiwanicola Tagawa