Gymnocarpium Newman (Woodsiaceae) Earlier placement: Athyriaceae, Aspideaceae, Dryopteridaceae

Oak fern

Etymology From the Greek, gymnos, naked + karpos, fruit, because there are no indusia covering the sori.
Description Rhizome: long-creeping, glabrous.
Frond: deciduous, monomorphic.
Stipe: grooved, glabrous, vascular bundles: 2, oblong.
Blade: pinnatifid to 3-pinnate-pinnatifid, triangular to pentagonal, herbaceous, absent.
Pinnae: pinnules on lower side longer than those on upper side, costae grooved above, not continuous from rachis to costae, segments entire or crenate, veins free, simple or forked.
Sori: round, in 1 row between midrib and margin, indusium: absent, sporangia: brownish.
Distinctive Characteristics small fern, long-creeping, black rhizome, stipe vertical and blade horizontal, forms a loose colony
G. dryopteris
Gymnocarpium dryopteris. The creeping rhizome, triangular blade, and naked sorus is characteristic of the entire genus.  From Bilder ur Nordens Flora via Wikipedia
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