Etymology Latin: arguta means sharply toothed or notched.

Description Rhizome: short-creeping.
Frond: 60 cm high by 20 cm wide, evergreen, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 2:1 to 3:1.
Stipe: grooved, scattered, light brown or reddish-brown scales, vascular bundles: 3-7 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: pinnate-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate at base, lanceolate, widest and truncate at the base, herbaceous or papery, glandular.
Pinnae: 17 to 18 pair, subopposite; pinnules oblong, about 1 cm; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; narrow, lanceolate scales; margins serrate to lobed, decidedly spiny; veins free, running to teeth tips.
Sori: round, medial, indusium: reniform, pale greenish yellow, at a sinus, sporangia: brownish-gray.

Culture Habitat: open, wooded slopes. Distribution: coastal British Columbia to California, Baja California, disjunct in Arizona. Hardy to -15°C, USDA Zone 7; however, the majority of selections are limited to Zone 8.

Distinctive Characteristics narrow, lanceolate scales on costa; very spinulose Dryopteris

Synonyms
Aspidium argutum Kaulfuss
Lastrea arguta Brackenr.
Nephrodium argutum Diels
Thelypteris arguta Moxley