''Gymnocarpium dryopteris'', the western oakfern, common oak fern , oak fern, or northern oak fern, is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

fern of the family Cystopteridaceae. It is widespread across much of North America and

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

. It has been found in Canada, the United States, Greenland, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and most of Europe. Flora of North America, ''Gymnocarpium dryopteris'' (Linnaeus) Newman, 1851. Common oak fern, gymnocarpe fougère-du-chêne
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Description

''Gymnocarpium dryopteris'' has small, delicate fronds up to 40 cm (16 inches) long, with ternately-compound pinnae (leaves). Fronds occur singly. On the underside of matured

pinnae The auricle or auricula is the visible part of the ear that is outside the head. It is also called the pinna (Latin for "wing" or " fin", plural pinnae), a term that is used more in zoology. Structure The diagram shows the shape and location ...

the naked sori can be found (the Latin generic name ''gymnocarpium'' means "with naked fruit"). The species grows in coniferous woodlands and on shale talus slopes. ''Gymnocarpium dryopteris'', a forest understory plant, is not found in association with ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

'' (oak). In cultivation in the UK this plant and the

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

"Plumosum" have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

’s Award of Garden Merit.

References

External links

dryopteris :''The moth genus ''Dryopteris'' is now considered a junior synonym of '' Oreta. ''Dryopteris'' , commonly called the wood ferns, male ferns (referring in particular to '' Dryopteris filix-mas''), or buckler ferns, is a fern genus in the family D ...

Ferns of the Americas Ferns of Asia Ferns of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Polypodiales-stub