Plantae > Tracheophyta > Polypodiopsida > Polypodiales > Dryopteridaceae > Dryopteris > Dryopteris filix-mas

Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern; malefern; male woodfern)

Synonyms:
Language: French

Wikipedia Abstract

Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern) is a common fern of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, native to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas in the understory of woodlands, but also shady places on hedge-banks, rocks, and screes. It is much less abundant in North America than in Europe. The plant is sometimes referred to in ancient literature as worm fern. Its specific epithet filix-mas means "male fern (filix "fern", mas "male")", as the plant was thought to be the male version of the female fern, being robust in appearance and vigorous in growth.
View Wikipedia Record: Dryopteris filix-mas

Infraspecies

Dryopteris filix-mas brittonii
Dryopteris filix-mas filix-mas (Male Fern)
Dryopteris filix-mas pseudorigida
Lastrea filix-mas var. filix-mas
Thelypteris filix-mas f. filix-mas

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Hazards [2]  Although we have found no reports for this species, a number of ferns contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable; The fresh plant contains thiaminase, an enzyme that robs the body of its vitamin B complex. In small quantities this enzyme will do no harm to people eating an adequate diet that is rich in vitamin B, though large quantities can cause severe health problems. The enzyme is destroyed by heat or thorough drying, so cooking the plant will remove the thiaminase; However, there have been reports for other species of ferns suggesting that even cooked fronds can have a long term harmful effect. Some caution is therefore advised.
Leaf Type [2]  Evergreen
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Structure [2]  Fern
Usage [2]  A compost of fern leaves is very beneficial on tree seed beds, aiding germination; The ashes of the plant are rich in potash and has been used in making soap and glass; An effective ground cover plant. Although it is usually deciduous, its decaying fronds make a good weed-suppressing mulch in the winter; Space the plants about 60cm apart each way; The roots contain about 10% tannin;
Height [2]  3.936 feet (1.2 m)
Width [2]  39 inches (1 m)
Light Preference [3]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [3]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [3]  Intermediate
Soil Moisture [3]  Moist
View Plants For A Future Record : Dryopteris filix-mas

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 4Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 5Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 6Aryal, A. 2008. Status and Conservation of Himalayan Serow (Capricornis sumatraensis. thar) in Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal. BRTF Nepal; A Report Submitted to The Rufford Small Grant For Nature Conservation, UK and The People’s Trust For Endangered Species, UK
♦ 7Ecology of Commanster
♦ 8HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 9New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Plant-SyNZ™ database
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0