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D. fragrans resources
Descriptive
Ferns of the NorthwoodsFerns of the Northwoods
Distribution
North AmericaNorth America
Drawing
Britton & BrownBritton & Brown
Flora
Flora of JapanFlora of Japan
Flora of North AmericaFlora of North America
Monograph
Canadian Arctic Archipelago, account with many photosCanadian Arctic Archipelago, account with many photos
Hoshizaki and WilsonHoshizaki and Wilson
Photo
habithabit
habit, click againhabit, click again
habitat, Siberiahabitat, Siberia

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Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott

Fragrant cliff fern

Etymology Latin: fragrans, fragrant. The fronds have a sweet, fruity odor.
Description Rhizome: erect, stout.
Frond: 25 cm high by 5 cm wide, persistent old fronds surround the base, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 3:1 to 1:2.
Stipe: grooved, scaly, vascular bundles: 6 in a c-shaped pattern.
Blade: 2-pinnate-pinnatifid on larger fronds near the rachis, otherwise pinnate-pinnatifid, narrowly elliptic, leathery, upper side bright green, brown to reddish scales below, yellow glandular above (violet or raspberry fragrance).
Pinnae: 20 to 30 pair, opposite, sometimes overlapping; pinnules crenately toothed; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, medial, indusium: reniform, large, whitish, becoming brown, often overlapping, at a sinus, sporangia: brownish, maturity: midsummer.
Culture Habitat: rock crevices and talus slopes, often calcareous. Distribution: circumboreal. Hardy to -40°C, USDA Zone 2, requires a cool summer.
Distinctive Characteristics mistaken for Woodsia ilvensis, but the persistent, curled, dead fronds are unique
Synonyms
Polypodium fragrans L.
Aspidium fragrans Sw.
Filix fragrans Farwell
Lastrea fragrans Presl
Nephrodium fragrans Richards
Polystichum fragrans (L.) Roth
Thelypteris fragrans Nieuwl.
Woodsia xanthosporangia Ching
Dryopteris fragrans
Dryopteris fragrans. plant with cleft rhizome, persistent fronds; left: rhizome and stipe scales; right: pinna with sori and glands.  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Øllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
Dryopteris fragrans
Dryopteris fragrans. The cross-section shape of the stipe at the base changes at the top of the stipe, but the number of vascular bundles remains at six.  Drawing from Ferns of Northeastern United States, Farida A. Wiley, 1936.
Dryopteris fragrans
Dryopteris fragrans.  Illustration from The Cultivated Species of the Fern Genus Dryopteris in the United States, Barbara Joe Hoshizaki and Kenneth A. Wilson, American Fern Journal, 89, 1, (1999), with permission.
Dryopteris fragrans
Dryopteris fragrans. a) rhizome, this year's frond and last year's persistent frond; b) portion of fertile pinna.  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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