''Dryopteris cristata'' is a species of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

native to wetlands throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is known as crested wood fern or crested buckler-fern. This plant is a

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of (homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

species of hybrid origin, one parent being ''

Dryopteris ludoviciana ''Dryopteris ludoviciana'', the southern woodfern, is fern native to southern United States from Florida west to Texas and as far north as Kentucky and North Carolina. It is an evergreen in mild climates. Its growth habit is tall and upright wit ...

'' and the other being the unknown, apparently extinct species, dubbed ''Dryopteris semicristata'', which is also one of the presumed parents of ''

Dryopteris carthusiana ''Dryopteris carthusiana'' 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 woodfern in North America. It is a tetraploid of hybrid ...

''. ''D. cristata'' in turn is one of the parents of ''

Dryopteris clintoniana ''Dryopteris clintoniana'', commonly known as Clinton's wood fern, is a fern of hybrid origin native to the northern hemisphere. It is a fertile hexaploid, arising as a species by doubling of its chromosome number from a hybrid between ''Dryopte ...

'', another fern of hybrid origin. The crested wood fern is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s plant, needing year-round moisture. The fronds often grow quite tall, up to a meter or more in height, but are extremely narrow under most conditions.

Anti-microbial properties

It is known that this plant has been used as an anti-

microbial A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

agent; for example, root extracts from ''D. cristata'' (as well as the kindred species '' D. arguta'') has been shown efficacious in expelling intestinal

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

s from certain mammals.C. Michael Hogan. 2008

Notes

References

* U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2009
USDA PLANTS Profile: ''Dryopteris cristata''

Dryopteris cristata
in ''

Flora of North America The ''Flora of North America North of Mexico'' (usually referred to as ''FNA'') is a multivolume work describing the native plants and naturalized plants of North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and a ...

'' cristata Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Dryopteridaceae-stub