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Male Fern

Male Fern

Dryopteris filix-mas

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How common: Very common

Male Fern is a sturdy, clump-forming fern found widely across Europe and beyond. It grows on rocks, rocky slopes and stony woods, often in fairly light places. All parts are poisonous.

Did you know?

  • It has a faint, stale smell.
  • In the past its root was used to expel tapeworms.

About the species

Identification

Forms tight clumps of upright leaves up to about 1 m; each leaf 25–80 cm. The leaf stalk is shorter than half the leafy part and has many pale brown scales, as does the central line of the leaf. The leaf is slightly shiny above and narrow-oval, divided into many pairs of side leaflets; each leaflet is further split into blunt, toothed lobes. The lowest pair is shorter than the ones above. In summer you may see two neat rows of small brown spore dots under each leaflet. Compared to softer wood ferns, it looks sturdier and favors drier, rocky places.

Plant group

Ferns, horsetails and clubmosses

Habitat

rock

Toxicity

A poisonous plant – do not taste it. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

About the habitat

On rocks and at their bases, rocky slopes, boulder fields and dry to fairly dry stony woods; prefers semi-open, fairly light sites and drier ground than many similar ferns. Across Finland; common in the south and in the eastern parts of Central Finland; rather scarce in Central and Northern Ostrobothnia and in Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Ian Alexander, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GT Male Fern.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Luonnonvaraiset lääkekasvit - Sanikkaiset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.37750

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: rehevät rannikkometsät, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.37750

Text: Pinkka: A Pohjolan kasveja - Saniaiset ja liekokasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.37750

Text: Pinkka: BIO-515 Etelä-Suomen putkilokasvit - Saniaiset ja liekokasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.37750

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kivikkoalvejuuri

See also