Lepisorus excavatus (Bory ex Willd.) Ching

excavatus: hollowed out, referring to the sori which are embedded in shallow cavities of the lamina

Rhizome widely creeping, up to 5 mm in diameter, with a whitish, waxy covering; rhizome scales shiny, brown, lanceolate, up to 4 mm long, margins paler, subentire. Fronds spaced apart, erect, membranous, deciduous. Stipe up to 9 cm long, yellowish, with a few scattered, small brown scales when young. Lamina up to 35 × 4 cm, narrowly lanceolate to linear, apex gradually tapering to a point, base narrowly wedge-shaped, margins entire to weakly wavy, glabrous on both surfaces, veins rather obscure. Sori round, up to 4 mm in diameter at maturity, in a line on either side of the midrib in the upper half of the lamina, exindusiate, sunken and thus creating a slightly raised impression on the upper surface of the lamina.

South Africa to central Africa and most of tropical Africa. Also in Madagascan region and Indian Ocean Islands.