Dryopteridaceae - wood fern family
[information to be added]

Maine is home to 11 species in 2 genera (hybrids excluded). If you know which species you have or are interested in learning about, click on the appropriate link from the species list below. Otherwise, to determine which genus your fern belongs to, refer to the table below the species list.

   Dryopteris (9 species)
      Dryopteris campyloptera - mountain wood fern
      Dryopteris carthusiana - spinulose wood fern
      Dryopteris clintoniana - Clinton’s wood fern
      Dryopteris cristata - crested wood fern
      Dryopteris filix-mas ssp. brittonii - male wood fern
      Dryopteris fragrans - fragrant wood fern
      Dryopteris goldiana - Goldie’s wood fern
      Dryopteris intermedia - evergreen wood fern
      Dryopteris marginalis - marginal wood fern
   Polystichum (2 species)
      Polystichum acrostichoides - Christmas fern
      Polystichum braunii - Braun’s holly fern

	auricle at base of leaflet/leafule	indusium attachment	char. 3	char. 4	char. 5	char. 6
Dryopteris	absent	laterally
Polystichum	present	peltate (attached at center)

Dryopteris (wood fern)
[information to be added]

red font = character state unique or nearly so	aromatic glands on leaf blades	indusia	bristle-tipped teeth on leaf segments	sorus location	leaf persistence	leaflet orientation
D. campyloptera	absent	separate	present	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	dying back in winter	in plane of blade
D. carthusiana	absent	separate	present	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	dying back in winter	± in plane of blade
D. clintoniana	absent	separate	present	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	fertile leaves dying back in winter; sterile leaves green through winter	at oblique angle to plane of blade
D. cristata	absent	separate	present	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	fertile leaves dying back in winter; sterile leaves green through winter	perpendicular to plane of blade
D. filix-mas ssp. brittonii	absent	separate	absent	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	dying back in winter	± in plane of blade
D. fragrans	present	often overlapping	absent	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	green through winter	± in plane of blade
D. goldiana	absent	separate	absent	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	dying back in winter	in plane of blade
D. intermedia	absent	separate	present	between margins and midrib of leaf segments	green through winter	± in plane of blade
D. marginalis	absent	separate	absent	at/near margins of leaf segments	(blue-)green through winter	± in plane of blade

Dryopteris campyloptera (mountain wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris carthusiana (spinulose wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris clintoniana (Clinton’s wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris cristata (crested wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris filix-mas ssp. brittonii (male wood fern) - Maine’s rarest Dryopteris species.

Dryopteris fragrans (fragrant wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris goldiana (Goldie’s wood fern) - [information to be added]

Dryopteris intermedia (evergreen wood fern) - habit (lower left); adaxial surface of leaf (lower right)
   
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Dryopteris marginalis (marginal wood fern) - habit (lower left); adaxial surface of leaf (lower right)
      
(click on an image to enlarge)

abaxial surface of leaf (lower left); close-up of abaxial surface of leaflet showing marginal sori (lower right)
   
(click on an image to enlarge)

Polystichum (Christmas fern)
[information to be added]

	leaf division	fertile leaflets	sori distribution	char. 4	char. 5	char. 6
P. acrostichoides	once	reduced in size compared with sterile leaflets	often confluent
P. braunii	twice	same size as sterile leaflets	distinct

Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern) - habit (lower left): adaxial surface of reproductive leaf, the sori being on the abaxial surface of the reduced leaflets (at distal end of leaf (lower right)
   
(click on an image to enlarge)

scales on leaf petiole:

(click on image to enlarge)

Polystichum braunii (Braun’s holly fern)

Note:
   1. Taxonomy and nomenclature follow Flora Novae Angliae by Arthur Haines (2011, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-17154-9).