Hardy Fern Home

D. cristata resources
Descriptive
Connecticut Botanical SocietyConnecticut Botanical Society
Ferns of the NorthwoodsFerns of the Northwoods
Flore laurentienneFlore laurentienne
overview with good close-ups of sorioverview with good close-ups of sori
Distribution
North AmericaNorth America
WorldWorld
Drawing
as Aspidium cristatumas Aspidium cristatum
Britton & BrownBritton & Brown
from C.A.M. Lindman's Florafrom C.A.M. Lindman's Flora
Flora
Flora of North AmericaFlora of North America
Monograph
Hoshizaki and WilsonHoshizaki and Wilson
Photo
frond habitfrond habit
inoperativehabitat, Kiikala SW Finland (link inoperative)
pinna close-uppinna close-up

All Ferns
  Dryopteridaceae
   Dryopteris
     aemula  affinis
     amurensis  arguta
     bissetiana  campyloptera
     carthusiana  caucasica
     celsa  championii
     clintoniana  crassirhizoma
     cristata  cycadina
     cystolepidota  decipiens
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     fuscipes  goldiana
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     polylepis  pseudo-filix-mas
     purpurella  remota
     sacrosancta  saxifraga
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     wallichiana

 Other Genera
    Adiantum  Arachniodes
    Aspidotis  Asplenium
    Astrolepis  Athyrium
    Blechnum  Cheilanthes
    Cryptogramma  Cyrtomium
    Cystopteris  Dennstaedtia
    Deparia  Diplazium
    Gymnocarpium  Lygodium
    Matteuccia  Onoclea
    Oreopteris  Osmunda
    Pellaea  Phegopteris
    Pleopeltis  Polypodium
    Polystichum  Pteridium
    Pteris  Pyrrosia
    Thelypteris  Woodsia
    Woodwardia
 
Dryopteris cristata (Linnaeus) A. Gray

Crested wood fern

Etymology cristata, Latin, like a comb. The fertile fronds have the pinnae twisted 90°, and thus appear comb-like in profile. The English common name is a mistranslation of the Latin.
Description Rhizome: erect, massive, occasionally branching to form new crowns, covered with old stipe bases.
Frond: 60 cm high by 12 cm wide, fertile deciduous, sterile evergreen, dimorphic, fertile taller, erect, sterile fronds shorter, narrower at base, blade/stipe ratio: 2:1 to 3:1.
Stipe: grooved, base swollen, persistent, scaly at the base, vascular bundles: 5 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, narrowly lanceolate or with parallel sides, herbaceous to somewhat leathery, linear to ovate scales below, absent above.
Pinnae: 10 to 15 pair, isodromous, fertile pinnae twisted out of plane of blade, perpendicular to it, lower pinnae distant, triangular, upwards closer, narrower; pinnules oblong, rounded at the apex; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins spiny, serrate, bending slightly down; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, in 1 row between midrib and margin, indusium: reniform, shriveling upon ripening, attached at a sinus, sporangia: dark brown, maturity: midsummer.
Dimensionality: pinnae rotated 90º to a plane parallel to the ground.
Culture Habitat: swamps, swampy woods, or open shrubby wetlands . Distribution: North America (mainly northern), Norway and England across northern and central Europe and northern Asia. Hardy to -35°C, USDA Zone 3.
Synonyms
Polypodium cristatum L.
Aspidium cristatum (L.) Swartz
Nephrodium cristatum (L.) Michaux
Filix cristata Farwell
Lastrea cristata Presl
Polystichum cristatum (L.) Roth
Dryopteris cristata
Dryopteris cristata. upper right: portion of pinna nearest to rachis with sori; middle right: upper surface venation; lower left: stipe scale; plant with branching rhizome.  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Øllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
Dryopteris cristata
Dryopteris cristata. Five vascular bundles at both the bottom (below) and the top of the stipe. Note, however, the change in the cross-section shape.  Drawing from Ferns of Northeastern United States, Farida A. Wiley, 1936.
Dryopteris cristata
Dryopteris cristata. In habitat, Skallesø, Jutland, Denmark with Carex nigra, Potentilla erecta, Molinia coerulea, and Sphagnum sp.  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Øllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
Dryopteris cristata
Dryopteris cristata. a) fronds, sterile left (shorter, diminishing pinnae near base), fertile right; b) fertile pinnules.  Illustration by V. Fulford from Ferns and Fern Allies of Canada, William J. Cody and Donald M. Britton, 1989, © Agriculture Canada, used with permission.
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