Dryopteris

Dryopteris , commonly called Wood Ferns, Male Ferns, and Buckler Ferns, is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...

 of about 250 species of fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. The group is also referred to as Polypodiophyta, or Polypodiopsida when treated as a subdivision of tracheophyta...

s with distribution in the temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...

 Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

, with the highest species diversity in eastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...

. Many of the species have stout, slowly creeping rootstocks that form a crown, with a vase-like ring of frond

Frond

The term frond is used to refer to a large, divided leaf.In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group...

s. The sori

Sorus

A sorus is a cluster of sporangia.In fungi and lichens, the sorus is surrounded by an external layer. In some red algae it may take the form of a depression into the thallus....

 are round, with a peltate indusium. The stipe

Stipe (botany)

In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which taxonomic group is being described....

s have prominent scales.

Hybridization is a well-known phenomenon within this group, with many species formed by hybridization.

Dryopteris species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Batrachedra sophroniella

Batrachedra

Batrachedra is the biggest genus in the family Batrachedridae.It contains the following species:*Batrachedra acrodeta*Batrachedra agaura*Batrachedra albanica*Batrachedra albicapitella*Batrachedra albistrigella...

(which feeds exclusively on D. cyatheoides) and Sthenopis auratus

Sthenopis

Sthenopis is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are eight described species found in North America and China.-Species:*Sthenopis argenteomaculatus - Canada/United States*Recorded food plants: Alnus, Betula, Salix...

.

Selected species

Dryopteris abbreviata Dryopteris aemula - Hay-scented Buckler Fern Dryopteris affinis Dryopteris affinis Dryopteris affinis is fern native to western and southern Europe and southwestern Asia. It is most abundant in areas with high humidity, such as the British Isles and western France; in the Mediterranean region and the Caucasus it is confined to high altitudes... - Scaly Male Fern Dryopteris alpestris Dryopteris amurensis Dryopteris apicisora Dryopteris arguta Dryopteris arguta Dryopteris arguta is a species of wood fern known by the common name Coastal woodfern. It is native to the west coast of North America, where it grows in oak woodlands and shady low elevation slopes.-Morphology:... - Coastal Wood Fern Dryopteris azorica Dryopteris barbigera Dryopteris bissetiana Dryopteris blandfordii Dryopteris bodinieri Dryopteris borreri Dryopteris campyloptera - Mountain Wood Fern Dryopteris canaliculata Dryopteris carthusiana Dryopteris carthusiana Dryopteris carthusiana H.P. Fuchs is a species of fern native to damp forests throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is known as the narrow buckler fern in the United Kingdom, and as the spinulose wood fern in North America... - Narrow Buckler Fern Dryopteris caucasica Dryopteris caudifrons Dryopteris celsa - Log Fern Dryopteris championi Dryopteris changii Dryopteris chapaensis Dryopteris chinensis Dryopteris chrysocoma Dryopteris cinnamomea - Cinnamon Wood Fern Dryopteris clintoniana - Clinton's Wood Fern Dryopteris confertipinna Dryopteris cordipinna Dryopteris corleyi Dryopteris costalisora Dryopteris crassirhizoma Dryopteris crispifolia Dryopteris cristata Dryopteris cristata Dryopteris cristata A. Gray is a species of fern native to wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is known as the crested wood fern... - Crested Buckler Fern Dryopteris cyatheoides Dryopteris cycadina Dryopteris cyclopeltiformis Dryopteris decipiens Dryopteris dehuaensis Dryopteris dickinsii Dryopteris dilatata - Broad Buckler Fern Dryopteris discrita Dryopteris enneaphylla Dryopteris erythrosa Dryopteris erythrosora Dryopteris erythrosora Dryopteris erythrosora is a species of fern, native to eastern Asia from China and Japan south to the Philippines, growing in light woodland shade on low mountains or hills. It is evergreen, with bipinnate fronds 30-70 cm tall and 15-35 cm broad, with 8-20 pairs of pinnae.-Cultivation:D... - Autumn Fern Dryopteris expansa Dryopteris expansa Dryopteris expansa, alpine buckler fern or spreading wood fern, is a species of fern native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south at high altitudes in mountains to Spain and Greece in southern Europe, to Japan in eastern Asia, and to central California in North... - Northern Buckler Fern Dryopteris fibrilosa Dryopteris fibrilosissima Dryopteris filix-mas Dryopteris filix-mas Dryopteris filix-mas is one of the most common ferns of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, occurring throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas and is common in the understory of woodlands, but is also found in shady places on hedge-banks, rocks, and screes... - Male Fern Dryopteris floridana Dryopteris formosana Dryopteris fragrans - Fragrant Buckler Fern Dryopteris fructuosa Dryopteris fuscipes Dryopteris gamblei Dryopteris goerigiana Dryopteris goldiana Dryopteris goldiana Dryopteris goldiana or Goldie's wood fern is a fern native to the northeastern United States and adjacent areas of Canada.It is one of the parents of the hybrids Dryopteris celsa and Dryopteris clintoniana.... - Goldie's Wood Fern Dryopteris gongboensis Dryopteris guanchica Dryopteris gushanica Dryopteris gushiangensis Dryopteris gymnophylla Dryopteris gymnosora Dryopteris hendersoni Dryopteris hexagonoptera Dryopteris hirtipes Dryopteris huanganshanensis Dryopteris hupehensis Dryopteris hwangii Dryopteris hypophlebia Dryopteris immixta Dryopteris incisolobata Dryopteris integriloba Dryopteris integripinnula Dryopteris intermedia Dryopteris intermedia Dryopteris intermedia A. Gray, the intermediate wood fern, is an evergreen eastern North American species also occasionally found in Europe. It is a diploid species, and is the parent of several species of hybrid origin, including Dryopteris carthusiana.This fern is often confused with several... - Intermediate Wood Fern Dryopteris junlianensis Dryopteris juxtaposita Dryopteris kinkiensis Dryopteris labordei Dryopteris lacera Dryopteris lancipinnula Dryopteris lepidopoda Dryopteris lepidorachis Dryopteris liyangensis

Dryopteris ludoviciana Dryopteris ludoviciana Dryopteris ludoviciana, the Southern Wood Fern, is fern native to southern United States from Florida west to Texas and as far north as Kentucky and North Carolina.... - Southern Wood Fern Dryopteris manshurica Dryopteris marginalis Dryopteris marginalis Dryopteris marginalis is known as the marginal shield fern or marginal wood fern. The marginal wood fern favors damp shady areas and is found throughout eastern North America. It favors moderately acid to circumneutral soils. It favors cooler areas, but is fairly drought-resistant once established... - Marginal Wood Fern Dryopteris matsumurae Dryopteris minjiangensis Dryopteris monticola Dryopteris montigena Dryopteris nanpingensis Dryopteris neolepidopoda Dryopteris nigrosquamosa Dryopteris nyalamensis Dryopteris nyingchiensis Dryopteris odontoloma Dryopteris oreades - Mountain Male Fern Dryopteris pacifica Dryopteris pallida Dryopteris paludicda Dryopteris panda Dryopteris parasparsa Dryopteris pedata Dryopteris peninsulae Dryopteris podophylla Dryopteris polita Dryopteris prosa Dryopteris pseudo-sikkimensis Dryopteris pseudoatrata Dryopteris pseudodontoloma Dryopteris pseudofibrillosa Dryopteris pseudomarginata Dryopteris pseudouniformis Dryopteris pulcherrima Dryopteris qandoensis Dryopteris quatanensis Dryopteris reflexosquamata Dryopteris remota Dryopteris rigida Dryopteris rosthornii Dryopteris sacrosancta Dryopteris sanmingensis Dryopteris saxifraga Dryopteris scottii Dryopteris semipinnata Dryopteris sericea Dryopteris serrato-dentata Dryopteris shensicola Dryopteris sichotensis Dryopteris sieboldii Dryopteris sikkimensis Dryopteris silaensis Dryopteris sino-sparsa Dryopteris sinoerythrosora Dryopteris sinofibrillosa Dryopteris sordidipes Dryopteris sparsa Dryopteris spinulosa Dryopteris squamifera Dryopteris squamiseta Dryopteris stenolepis Dryopteris subatrata Dryopteris subbarbigera Dryopteris subexaltata Dryopteris sublacera Dryopteris sublaeta Dryopteris submarginata Dryopteris submontana - Rigid Buckler Fern Dryopteris subtriangularis Dryopteris tarningensis Dryopteris tenuicula Dryopteris tenuissima Dryopteris thibetica Dryopteris tieluensis Dryopteris tokyoensis - Tokyo Wood Fern Dryopteris tsangpoensis Dryopteris tyrrhena Dryopteris uniformis Dryopteris varia Dryopteris venosa Dryopteris villarii Dryopteris wallichiana Dryopteris wenchuanensis Dryopteris wuyishanensis Dryopteris yigongensis Dryopteris yungtzeensis Dryopteris zayuensis

Cultivation and uses

Many Dryopteris species are highly desired as garden ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, stem and bark. In some cases, unusual features may be considered ornamental, such as the...

s, especially D. erythrosa (autumn fern, often sold in garden outlets) and D. filix-mas, a very popular garden fern in the British Isles and Europe, with numerous cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....

s.

Dryopteris filix-mas was throughout much of recent human history widely used as a vermifuge, and was the only fern listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia

Pharmacopoeia

Pharmacopoeia , in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society .In a broader sense is a reference work for...

.