Etymology From the Greek, pseudo, false, + the reference to the male fern, D. filix-mas.

Description Rhizome: erect, stout, branching.
Frond: 100 cm high by 25 cm wide, deciduous in colder areas, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 3:1.
Stipe: grooved, densely scaly, triangular to ovate, to 15 mm, brown, darker at the base and center, vascular bundles: 3-7 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 1-pinnate-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate at base, or more with older specimen, oblanceolate, herbaceous to somewhat leathery, linear to ovate scales below, absent above.
; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costaeMargins shallowly serrate or toothed; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, in 1 row between midrib and margin, indusium: reniform, shriveling upon ripening, at a sinus, sporangia: brownish.

Culture Habitat: moist forests, high elevation. Distribution: Mexico, Guatemala. Hardy to -25°C, USDA Zone 5.

Synonyms
Aspidium pseudofilix-mas Fée
Lastrea chrysocarpa Moore
Dryopteris chrysocarpa (Fée) Rothm.