Rhizomatous, a tufted evergreen ferns. Leaves 8-20 cm, thick and
leathery, pinnately-lobed, with 9-12 semi-circular leaflets on each sides of the midrib, dark green and hairless above but covered beneath with pale rusty-brown scurfy scales. Sori linear, indusium absent. Medicinal. Spore ripe April. Dry wills, limestone & metamorphic rocks.

Mediterranean & Atlantic areas of Europe, Crimea, Caucasia and Himalayas.