Description: This is one of our commonest native fern species found on roadside verges, in hedgebanks and in scrub. It is similar to the Scaly Male-fern Dryopteris affinis but lacks the dark spot at the base of the primary leaf segments (called pinnae) which is a consistent feature of that species. It also differs in that it is a sexually-reproducing species, whereas D. affinis reproduces asexually. The two species can hybridize, but there are only a few records of the hybrid in the CEDaR database. This may be because the hybrid is so similar to the parent species in general appearance.

All names: Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott; Dryopteris filix-mas sens. str. (L) Schott

Distribution Map from NBN: Dryopteris filix-mas at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Dryopteris filix-mas at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.