Etymology Named for Judge G.W. Clinton (1807-1885), a well known naturalist of Buffalo, New York.

Description Rhizome: short-creeping.
Frond: 120 cm high by 20 cm wide, fertile fronds deciduous, sterile evergreen, somewhat dimorphic, fertile (1-several) smaller, blade/stipe ratio: 2:1 to 3:1.
Stipe: grooved, green, dark brown at base, scales scattered, tan, vascular bundles: 5 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, almost more, lanceolate with nearly parallel sides, tapering only in the upper ¼, herbaceous, linear to ovate scales below, absent above.
Pinnae: 14 to 16 pair, above the basal pair, more alternate than opposite; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins serrate, minutely spiny; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, on veins, closer to the costa than the margin, indusium: reniform, at a sinus, sporangia: brownish, maturity: midsummer.

Culture Habitat: swampy woods. Distribution: ne North America. Hardy to -35°C, USDA Zone 3.

Synonyms
Dryopteris cristata (L.) Gray var. clintoniana (D.C. Eat.) Underwood
Dryopteris poyseri Wherry
Aspidium cristatum (L.) Swartz var. clintonianum D. C. Eaton
Thelypteris clintoniana House
Dryopteris claytoniana, invalid