Dryopteris

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Genus of plants

title: "Dryopteris" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dryopteris", "fern-genera"] description: "Genus of plants" topic_path: "general/dryopteris" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopteris" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of plants ::

:*The moth genus Dryopteris is now considered a junior synonym of *Oreta. | fossil_range = Coniacian – present | image = Dryopteris filix mas nf.jpg | image_caption = Male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) | taxon = Dryopteris | authority = Adans. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms =

  • Acrophorus C.Presl
  • Acrorumohra (H.Itô) H.Itô
  • Arthrobotrys Wall.
  • Desmopodium J.Sm.
  • Diacalpe Blume
  • Dichasium (A.Braun) Fée
  • Diclisodon T.Moore
  • Dryopsis Holttum & P.J.Edwards
  • Filix Ség.
  • Filix-mas Hill ex Farw.
  • Gymnothalamium Zenker ex Kunze
  • Lophodium Newman
  • Nephrodium Marthe ex Michx.
  • Nothoperanema (Tagawa) Ching
  • Peranema D.Don
  • Pycnopteris T.Moore
  • Revwattsia D.L.Jones
  • Sphaeropteris Wall. |synonyms_ref =

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 Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The species are distributed in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific islands, with the highest diversity in eastern Asia. It is placed in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Many of the species have stout, slowly creeping rootstocks that form a crown, with a vase-like ring of fronds. The sori are round, with a peltate indusium. The stipes have prominent scales.

Hybridization and polyploidy are well-known phenomena in this group, with many species formed via these processes. The North American Dryopteris hybrid complex is a well-known example of speciation via allopolyploid hybridization.

The fossil record of this genus shows that it was widespread even as far back as the Cretaceous with fossils being found in Late Cretaceous rock layers from North America down to Antarctica.

Selected species

Main article: List of Dryopteris species

The genus has a large number of species. The PPG I classification suggested there were about 400 species; , the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World listed 328 species and 83 hybrids. Some genera sunk into Dryopteris, such as Dryopsis and Nothoperanema, are distinguished by other sources.

Ecology

Dryopteris species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Batrachedra sophroniella (which feeds exclusively on D. cyatheoides) and Sthenopiseauratus.

Cultivation and uses

Many Dryopteris species are widely used as garden ornamental plants, especially D. affinis, D. erythrosora, and D. filix-mas, with numerous cultivars.

Dryopteris filix-mas was throughout much of recent human history widely used as a vermifuge, and was the only fern listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. Traditional use in Scandinavia against red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) infestation is to place fronds in nesting boxes under nesting material and under floor covering material.

References

References

  1. (1957). "FLORA OF THE UPPER CRETACEOUS NANAIMO GROUP OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA". Geological Survey of Canada.
  2. "''Dryopteris'' Adans.". [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].
  3. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607
  4. (2012). "Molecular circumscription and major evolutionary lineages of the fern genus Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae)". BMC Evolutionary Biology.
  5. (2015-08-01). "What We Do (and Don't) Know About Ferns: Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) as a Case Study". Systematic Botany.
  6. (1999). "The Cultivated Species of the Fern Genus Dryopteris in the United States". American Fern Journal.
  7. (March 2017). "Into Africa: Molecular phylogenetics and historical biogeography of sub-Saharan African woodferns ( Dryopteris )". American Journal of Botany.
  8. (2012). "Unraveling reticulate evolution in North American Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae)". BMC Evolutionary Biology.
  9. McIver, Elisabeth E. (2002). "The paleoenvironment of Tyrannosaurus rex from southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  10. (April 2000). "Upper Cretaceous floras of King George Island, West Antarctica, and their palaeoenvironmental and phytogeographic implications". Cretaceous Research.
  11. (January 2020). "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World".
  12. PPG I. (2016). "A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns". Journal of Systematics and Evolution.

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dryopterisfern-genera