Flora of North America species comparison

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Dryopteris ludoviciana

Dryopteris cinnamomea

southern wood fern

cinnamon wood fern
Leaves

somewhat dimorphic, green through winter, 35–120 × 10–30 cm.

monomorphic, green through winter, 22–50 × 6–12 cm.
Petiole

more than 1/4 length of leaf, scaly at base;

scales scattered, brown.

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

scales scattered, cinnamon-colored.
Blade

dark green, lanceolate, pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous, not glandular.

light green, deltate-ovate, 3-pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous, not or sparsely glandular.
Pinnae

nearly in plane of blade, lance-oblong;

fertile pinnae in distal 1/2 of leaf, distinctly narrower than proximal vegetative pinnae (only in this species);

basal pinnae lanceolate-oblong, much reduced, basal pinnules slightly shorter than adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule slightly longer than basal acroscopic pinnule;

pinnule margins distantly serrate.

in plane of blade, narrowly deltate-lanceolate to deltate-oblong, narrowed to elongate, serrate tip;

basal pinnae deltate-oblong, somewhat reduced, basal pinnules shorter than adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule longer than basal acroscopic pinnule;

pinnule margins serrate.
Indusia

lacking glands.

lacking glands.
Sori

midway between midvein and margin of segments.

near sinus.
2n

= 82.

Dryopteris ludoviciana

Dryopteris cinnamomea
Habitat Swamps and wet woods Rock outcrops
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft) 400–2600 m (1300–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; TX; Mexico
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Dryopteris ludoviciana is endemic to southeastern United States. This diploid is one of the parents of D. celsa and D. cristata. It crosses with D. celsa to produce sterile hybrids.

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

Dryopteris cinnamomea belongs to the D. patula complex of Mexico and Central America, which is poorly understood. Arizona material of D. cinnamomea has been misidentified as D. patula, according to J. T. Mickel and J. M. Beitel (1988).

(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. celsa, D. cinnamomea, D. clintoniana, D. cristata, D. expansa, D. filix-mas, D. fragrans, D. goldieana, D. intermedia, D. marginalis
D. arguta, D. campyloptera, D. carthusiana, D. celsa, D. clintoniana, D. cristata, D. expansa, D. filix-mas, D. fragrans, D. goldieana, D. intermedia, D. ludoviciana, D. marginalis
Synonyms Aspidium ludovicianum, D. floridana Tectaria cinnamomea
Name authority (Kunze) Small: Ferns S. E. States 281. (1938) (Cavanilles) C. Christensen: Amer. Fern J. 1: 95. (1911)
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).



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