Etymology Varia means differing or diverse. Originally varia encompassed bissetiana, pacifica, sacrosancta and saxifraga . Some say it should be split further

Description Rhizome: erect, stout, bearing several fronds in a tuft, lanceolate scales abundant, dark brown, to 20 mm.
Frond: 70 cm high by 25 cm wide, evergreen, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 4:3.
Stipe: straw-colored, sometimes tinted brownish in lower portion , grooved, densely scaly throughout; scales linear to lanceolate, to 25 mm long, reddish brown, to blackish brown, shining, vascular bundles: 3-7 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 2-pinnate-pinnatifid at base, pentagonally broadly ovate, papery, shining, bullate scales on costae below, absent above.
Pinnae: 15 to 20 pair, anadromic lowest pair, catadromic above; pinnules first basiscopic pinnule of basal pinnae very long; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins weakly serrate, slightly turned under; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, large, medial, indusium: reniform, at a sinus, sporangia: brownish.

Culture Habitat: lowlands in warmer regions, forest floor in lowlands, often in coastal areas. Distribution: Japan, Korea, China, India, Thailand, Indochina, Taiwan and the Philippines. Hardy to -25°C, USDA Zone 5.

Synonyms
Polypodium varium L.
Dryopteris yabei Hayata
Polystichum varium (L.) Presl
Aspidium varium Sw.
Lastrea varia Moore
Nephrodium varium Presl