Etymology Goldiana is in honor of John Goldie, an early botanist who discovered this fern at Montreal, Canada

Description Rhizome: erect, stout.
Frond: 120 cm high by 40 cm wide, deciduous, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 3:2.
Stipe: grooved, scaly at base; scales scattered, dark, glossy brown to nearly black, with pale border, vascular bundles: 7 in a c-shaped pattern at the stipe base, 5 -7 at the top of the stipe.
Blade: 2-pinnate at base, ovate, tapering abruptly at apex, herbaceous, linear to ovate scales below, absent above.
Pinnae: 15 to 20 pair, catadromous; pinnules basal pinnule equal to adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule and basal acroscopic pinnule equal; costae grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae; margins crenate, or serrate; veins free, forked.
Sori: round, in 1 row near the midrib, indusium: reniform, white to transparent when immature, shriveling, attached at a sinus, sporangia: lead gray, then dark brown or black, maturity: midsummer.

Culture Habitat: moist woods, especially ravines, limey seeps, or at the edge of swamps . Distribution: northeastern North America. Hardy to -35°C, USDA Zone 3.

Synonyms
Aspidium goldianum Hooker ex Goldie
Thelypteris goldiana (Hooker) Nieuwland
Nephrodium goldianum (Hooker) Hooker & Greville
Lastrea goldiana Presl
Polystichum goldieanum Keys.