Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Dryopteris celsa

Dryopteris arguta

log fern

California wood fern, coastal fern, coastal wood fern, marginal wood fern, wood fern
Leaves

monomorphic, dying back in winter, 65–120 × 15–30 cm.

monomorphic, green through winter, 25–90 × 8–30 cm.
Petiole

1/3 length of leaf, scaly at least at base;

scales scattered, dark brown or tan with dark central stripe.

1/4–1/3 length of leaf, scaly at least at base;

scales scattered, light brown.
Blade

green, ovate-lanceolate, gradually tapering to tip, pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous, not glandular.

green to yellow-green, ovate-lanceolate, pinnate-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate at base, herbaceous, glandular.
Pinnae

± in plane of blade, lanceolate-ovate;

basal pinnae linear-oblong, much reduced, basal pinnules longer than adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule and basal acroscopic pinnule equal;

pinnule margins crenately toothed.

± in plane of blade, lance-oblong;

basal pinnae deltate, not much reduced, basal pinnules ± same length as adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule and basal acroscopic pinnule ± equal, pinnule margins serrate with spreading, spinelike teeth.
Indusia

lacking glands.

lacking glands.
Sori

midway between midvein and margin of segments.

midway between midvein and margin of segments.
2n

= 164.

= 82.

Dryopteris celsa

Dryopteris arguta
Habitat Seepage slopes, hammocks and logs in swamps, mostly on the Piedmont and Coastal Plain Shaded slopes and open woods
Elevation 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) 0–2100 m (0–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Dryopteris celsa is a fertile allotetraploid derived from hybridization between D. goldieana and D. ludoviciana. Dryopteris celsa hybridizes with six species; hybrids can usually be identified by the dark-striped scales.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Dryopteris arguta is somewhat variable. It has been suggested that more than one taxon is involved. No hybrids involving D. arguta are known.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Dryopteridaceae > Dryopteris Dryopteridaceae > Dryopteris
Sibling taxa
D. arguta, D. campyloptera, D. carthusiana, D. cinnamomea, D. clintoniana, D. cristata, D. expansa, D. filix-mas, D. fragrans, D. goldieana, D. intermedia, D. ludoviciana, D. marginalis
D. campyloptera, D. carthusiana, D. celsa, D. cinnamomea, D. clintoniana, D. cristata, D. expansa, D. filix-mas, D. fragrans, D. goldieana, D. intermedia, D. ludoviciana, D. marginalis
Synonyms D. goldiana subsp. celsa Aspidium argutum
Name authority (W. Palmer) Knowlton: W. Palmer, & Pollard, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 13: 202. (1900) (Kaulfuss) Maxon: Amer. Fern J. 11: 3. (1921)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers