Etymology Cycad-like, referring to its radial symmetry and pinnate fronds.

Description Rhizome: short-creeping.
Frond: 100 cm high by 20 cm wide, evergreen, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 5:2.
Stipe: grooved, pale brown, scales black-brown, the largest 2 cm, vascular bundles: 3-7 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 1-pinnate, oblanceolate, leathery, sparsely scaly below, more densely on the costa, rachis scales black, costae scales brown, glabrous above.
Pinnae: 20 to 30 pair, lanceolate to linear, sessile, coarsely toothed; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins coarsely toothed; veins single to a tooth.
Sori: round, nearer the costa than the margin, in 2 or 3 irregular rows, indusium: reniform, withering, attached at a sinus, sporangia: brownish, maturity: midsummer.

Culture Habitat: humus-rich mountain slopes usually in dense forests at 1700-2600 m alt. Distribution: Japan, China, Himalayas. Hardy to -25°C, USDA Zone 5.

Synonyms
Aspidium cycadinum Franch. & Sav.
Dryopteris atrata (Kunze) Ching, misapplied
Dryopteris hirtipes (Bl.) Kuntze, misapplied