#dryopteris

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Saturday 6 September 2025

At least three different species of fern were growing on this shaded stone wall including Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort), Asplenium scolopendrium (hart's tongue fern) and Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern). They certainly created a great wild addition to the urban landscape of Stromness, Orkney.

Jill Raggett

[pallanophblargh]

I’m very anxious and overwhelmed for a bunch of reasons, so of all things to post, I post ferns. Which as houseplants, are the epitome of anxiety. Or so I’m told.

Featuring my collection, minus one crocodile fern (mildly sunburned but fine): Staghorn fern, Japanese shield fern, rabbit’s foot fern, and delta maidenhair. Oddly enough, the rabbits foot is the most likely fern to communicate annoyance, and I think that’s due to me forgetting about it since they’re fairly tough. Also it’s sitting where I can’t immediately see it. (The mug was broken but found new life as a pot once I drilled a drain hole into it!)

The maidenhair has been with me for over a month and a half now and seems weirdly content, so long as I check in with it each day. Watching the new fronds come in has been so satisfying. Aside from watering regularly with fish tank water and good light, these babies get no special treatment. They all live within a foot of west facing windows, which is perfect for winter/spring/fall growing, and they get monitored in summer to make sure they don’t burn: they can easily be moved to less direct light should they become unhappy. Most fern problems seem to stem from poor lighting and improper watering related to said lighting. Then again, I’m no expert.

I do not know what I will do when/if Hector the staghorn reaches massive size. I guess the room will then belong to him! He’s grown so much since I got him a year ago.

I guess I’m happy to find these ferns are tougher than I was lead to believe. Which makes sense, considering I have native ferns in my landscaping (and want so many more!!!)

I’ve tagged the rabbits foot fern with arachnophobia since I’ve seen people get grossed out by their fuzzy rhizomes. I love them, it’s part of the appeal for me!

[cedar-glade]

Two members of the shield fern family, Dryopteridaceae

Diplazium pycnocarpon, glade fern, prefers high moisture and humidity and does well in dense shade, often I see this species not in glades but in ravines prone to some flooding living away from the bashside of rocks(sheltered side) and as a chasmophyte, a crack dwelling plant; but to clarify it is lithophitic, rock loving, but not having an epipetric( living on rocks soley) habit.). (epipetric is a delineate rock obligate)

Dryopteris marginalis, marginal wood fern/shield fern, more generalistic to light often on embankments and highly organic soil. I feel like this one is more generalistic than most and is almost as common as christmas fern.

[unicornvibration]

Dryopteris cambrensis

[foliorumviridis]

Ölelések

[wildflowers-of-southern-ontario]

Marginal Wood Fern Dryopteris marginalis Dryopteridaceae

Photographs taken on December 5, 2020, at the Niagara Glen Nature Centre, Niagara Falls, Canada.

[featherwurm]

Dumah and Dryopteris sharing a pleasant, rainy morning in with some of Dry's critters (thankfully not the goat.)

[californiabotanycertification]

Dryopteris arguta, Coastal or Marginal Wood Fern

Dryopteris arguta, Coastal or Marginal Wood Fern

Dryopteridaceae

native, perennial fern

KEY

terrestrial plant with no flowers or bulbs sporangia present

Herbs reproducing by spores released directly from sporangia, the sporangia variously located [on abaxial leaf  face, [LYCOPHYTES and FERNS]

Plant terrestrial l; leaf 1-2 pinnate,; sporangia borne on aerial portion of leaf

Leaves all alike or nearly so, the fertile [sporangium-bearing] blades very similar in size and shape to sterile blades sporangia borne on underside of leaf  blade, new leaves generally coiled, unrolling as they develop

Sori borne away from margin on underside of leaf  or leaflet, sporangia clustered in distinct sori; indusia present

Sori ± round

Blade without needle-like hairs

Indusium peltate  or round-reniform, attached ± in center of sorus , generally present and readily observable in late-season specimens ..... DRYOPTERIDACEAE

    - Indusium round-reniform, ± centrally attached at a sinus.., DRYOPTERIS

      -- Leaf 1–2-pinnate, proximal pinnae <= others, sides ± equal

       -- Stipe generally > 1/3 leaf  length; longest pinnae generally near blade  base; veins into segment teeth, adaxially obscure; scales of pinna  midribs lance-ovate to lanceolate ; blade, indusial glands sparse to ± dense; blades thick; ..... D. arguta

DESCRIPTION

Rhizome: anchored in soil or rocky crevices, short and creeping with large scales

Stipe/petiole: firm, base generally darker, with many vascular strands, suberect, or erect, Stipe generally > 1/3 leaf  length

Blade: fertile and sterile alike, 1-2 pinnate,  Leaf: 1-2 pinnate, longest leaflets at the base near blade base,  abaxial veins fork into segment teeth teeth

Sporangia: Round Sori born away from margin on underside of leaf.  indusium  round-reniform (kidney shaped), centrally attached at a sinus 

SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=17521#null

https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=DRAR3

https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23524

https://calscape.org/loc-California/Dryopteris%20arguta%20(Coastal%20Wood%20Fern)

https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?namesoup=Dryopteris+arguta&countylist=any&plantcomm=any&format=photos&orderby=taxon

https://www.instagram.com/p/CICVtOMJJkB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+1107+0437

https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-lifeform=any&rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Dryopteris+arguta&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&where-namesoup=&rel-location=matchphrase&where-location=&rel-county=eq&where-county=any&rel-state=eq&where-state=any&rel-country=eq&where-country=any&where-collectn=any&rel-photographer=contains&where-photographer=&rel-kwid=equals&where-kwid=&max_rows=24