Rhizome shortly creeping, 2-4 mm in diameter; rhizome scales up to 5 mm long, castaneous to orange tan, narrowly lanceolate in outline, margin entire to minutely toothed on the upper half; phyllopodia absent. Fronds simple, clustered, arching, membranous, dimorphic with the fertile fronds much shorter than the sterile fronds. Sterile frond: stipe 2/5 to 1/2 the sterile frond lenght, greyish-green to pale-brown, set at first with narrowly lanceolate subentire squarrose ferrugineous inrolled scales up to 4mm long, becoming subglabrous with age, stipe also with minute glandular hairs abundant on stipe and blade; lamina narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong in outline, apex pointed, base broadly wedge-shaped hardly decresent, 10-22 × 2.5-4.7 cm, lamina set on both surfaces with scattered rusty coloured scales up to 3 mm and sometimes with scattered minute white hairs between the scales; veins 2-3 mm apart, at 70° angle to costa; hydathodes present, evident; costa prominant, bearing orange tan scales 3-4 mm. Fertile fronds: stipe 4/5 the fertile frond lenght; lamina up to 5 × 2.2 cm (16-30 x 0.8-1.2 cm in F.T.E.A), elliptic-oblong to ovate triangular in outline, apex rounded, base rounded, with hairs on the ventral surface similar to those on the sterile lamina; intersporangial scales scattered, linear-lanceolate-subulate, 3 mm, orange tan to maroon.

Species can be distinguished by its thin elliptic blade, having rusty orange scales on stipe and blade, fertile fronds that are much shorter than the sterile ones.

mildbraedii: for G.W.J. Mildbraed (1879-1954), German traveller, botanist, plant collector on four German expeditions to Central Africa, specializing in bryophyes and pteridophytes. Appointed Keeper at the Berlin Botanic Museum in 1913.

Moist evergreen forest.

See African distribution.

Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania , Uganda.

Epiphytic, lithophytic.