Dryopteris filix-mas

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Dryopteris filix-mas
Dryopteris filix mas nf.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Polypodiineae
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Genus: Dryopteris
Species:
D. filix-mas
Binomial name
Dryopteris filix-mas

Dryopteris filix-mas, the male fern, [1] 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. Near the northern limit of its distribution it prefers sunny, well-drained sites. It is much less abundant in North America than in Europe.

Description

19th century illustration Koeh-202.jpg
19th century illustration

The semi-evergreen leaves have an upright habit and reach a maximum length of 150 cm (59 in), with a single crown on each rootstock. The bipinnate leaves consist of 20–35 pinnae on each side of the rachis. The leaves taper at both ends, with the basal pinnae about half the length of the middle pinnae. The pinules are rather blunt and equally lobed all around. The stalks are covered with orange-brown scales. On the abaxial surface of the mature blade 5 to 6 sori develop in two rows. When the spores ripen in August to November, the indusium starts to shrivel, leading to the release of the spores.

This species hybridises easily with Dryopteris affinis (scaly male fern) and Dryopteris oreades (mountain male fern).

Names

The plant is sometimes referred to in ancient literature as worm fern, reflecting its former use against tapeworm.[ citation needed ]

Its specific epithet filix-mas means "male fern" (filix "fern", mas "male"), as the plant was thought to be the male version of the common lady fern Athyrium filix-femina . [2] being robust in appearance and vigorous in growth. [3]

The Finnish name kivikkoalvejuuri refers to the cestoda medicine use it has had (see Culture section), as alve is an old word for cestoda. [4]

Cultivation & uses

Numerous cultivars have been selected for garden use. The following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: [5]

Culture

D. filix-mas is culturally named the title plant of Nurmijärvi, the municipality in Uusimaa, Finland. The reason is that the plant is related to the first Finnish pharmaceutical factory located in Nurmijärvi in 1899–1964. The pharmaceutical factory founded by the pharmacist Albin Koponen made Diphyllobothrium latum and cestoda medicines called Filisin and Filicon, the raw material of which was the rhizome of D. filix-mas. The rhizomes were still collected in the locality in the 1960s. [11] The medicine was also used to treat liver fluke in sheep in Finland. [4]

Toxicity

The rhizomes of D. filix-mas are toxic. Doses too big can cause serious poisoning, blindness and even death. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nurmijärvi</span> Municipality in Uusimaa, Finland

Nurmijärvi is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Nurmijärvi is situated in the Uusimaa region. The population of Nurmijärvi is approximately 45,000. It is the 26th most populous municipality in Finland and the most populous municipality without city status. Nurmijärvi is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has approximately 1.58 million inhabitants.

<i>Dryopteris</i> Genus of plants

Dryopteris, commonly called the wood ferns, male ferns, or buckler ferns, is a fern genus in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). There are about 300-400 species in the genus. 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.

<i>Nephrolepis exaltata</i> Species of fern

Nephrolepis exaltata, known as the sword fern or Boston fern, is a species of fern in the family Nephrolepidaceae. It is native to the Americas. This evergreen plant can reach as high as 40–90 centimetres (16–35 in), and in extreme cases up to 1.5 metres. It is also known as the Boston sword fern, wild Boston fern, Boston blue bell fern, tuber ladder fern, or fishbone fern.

<i>Polystichum munitum</i> Western North American fern

Polystichum munitum, the western swordfern, is an evergreen perennial fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns in forested areas. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to southern California, and also inland east to southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana, with disjunctive populations in northern British Columbia, Canada; the Black Hills in South Dakota, United States; and Guadalupe Island off of Baja California, Mexico. Western swordfern is known to have locally naturalized in parts of Great Britain and Ireland.

<i>Dryopteris expansa</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris expansa, the alpine buckler fern, northern buckler-fern or spreading wood fern, is a species of fern native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south at high altitudes in mountains to Spain and Greece in southern Europe, to Japan in eastern Asia, and to central California in North America. The species was first described from Germany. It prefers cool, moist mixed or evergreen forests and rock crevices on alpine slopes, often growing on rotting logs and tree stumps and rocky slopes. It is characteristically riparian in nature, and is especially associated with stream banks.

<i>Gymnocarpium dryopteris</i> Species of fern

Gymnocarpium dryopteris, the western oakfern, common oak fern, oak fern, or northern oak fern, is a deciduous fern of the family Cystopteridaceae. It is widespread across much of North America and Eurasia. It has been found in Canada, the United States, Greenland, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and most of Europe. It is a seedless, vascular plant that reproduces via spores and have a life cycle with alternating, free-living sporophyte and gametophyte phases.

<i>Osmunda regalis</i> Species of fern

Osmunda regalis, or royal fern, is a species of deciduous fern, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, growing in woodland bogs and on the banks of streams. The species is sometimes known as flowering fern due to the appearance of its fertile fronds.

<i>Athyrium filix-femina</i> Species of fern

Athyrium filix-femina, the lady fern or common lady-fern, is a large, feathery species of fern native to temperate Asia, Europe, North Africa, Canada and the US. It is often abundant in damp, shady woodland environments and is often grown for decoration.

<i>Polystichum aculeatum</i> Species of fern

Polystichum aculeatum, the hard shield-fern, is an evergreen fern native to Europe. It is most abundant in upland regions of the British Isles and western France, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but also occurs more locally across most of Europe except northern Scandinavia, northern Russia; in the Mediterranean region it is confined to high altitudes. It grows on steep slopes in woodlands. it is sometimes considered an indicator of the presence of ancient woodlands.

<i>Polystichum setiferum</i> Species of fern

Polystichum setiferum, the soft shield fern, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe. The stalks and most midribs are coated with attractive cinnamon-brown scales. The Latin specific epithet setiferum means "with bristles".

<i>Dryopteris erythrosora</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris erythrosora, the autumn fern or Japanese shield fern, is a species of fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, native to east Asia from China and Japan south to the Philippines, growing in light woodland shade on low mountains or hills.

<i>Dryopteris affinis</i> Species of fern in the family Dryopteridaceae

Dryopteris affinis, the scaly male fern or golden-scaled male fern, is a fern native to western and southern Europe and southwestern Asia. It is most abundant on moist soils in woodlands in areas with high humidity, such as the British Isles and western France. In the Mediterranean region and the Caucasus it is confined to high altitudes.

<i>Athyrium niponicum</i> Species of plant

Athyrium niponicum, the Japanese painted fern, is a species of fern native to eastern Asia.

<i>Dryopteris carthusiana</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris carthusiana is a perennial species of fern native to damp forests throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is known as the narrow buckler-fern in the United Kingdom, and as the spinulose woodfern in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fern sports</span>

Fern sports are plants that show marked change from the normal type or parent stock as a result of mutation. The term Morphotype is also used for any of a group of different types of individuals of the same species in a population. Fern fronds in sports are typically altered in several ways, such as the frond apex divided and pinnae similarly duplicated.

<i>Chirosia betuleti</i> Species of fly

Chirosia betuleti is a species of fly, which causes knotting gall in ferns. The gall develops in the terminal shoots of ferns, such as broad buckler fern, male fern, lady fern, and ostrich fern.

<i>Dryopteris cycadina</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris cycadina, the shaggy shield fern or black wood fern, is a species of deciduous or semi-evergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, native to northern India, China, Taiwan and Japan. It grows to 60 cm (24 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide, and produces pale green fronds maturing to dark green, on erect rhizomes.

<i>Dryopteris dilatata</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris dilatata, the broad buckler-fern, is a robust species of deciduous or semievergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, native to Europe, particularly western and central Europe. In southern Europe, it is mostly found in mountainous regions. It is also found between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It grows to 90 cm (35 in) tall by 120 cm (47 in) wide, with dark green tripinnate fronds, the ribs covered in brown scales.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition, 2009: "C16: so called because it was formerly believed to be the male of the lady fern"
  3. Wayside and Woodland Blossoms (1895) by Edward Step: "the Male-fern – so-called by our fathers owing to its robust habit as compared with the tender grace of one they called Lady-fern."
  4. 1 2 3 Piirainen, Mikko; Piirainen, Pirkko; Vainio, Hannele (1999). Kotimaan luonnonkasvit[Native wild plants] (in Finnish). Porvoo, Finland: WSOY. p. 494. ISBN   951-0-23001-4.
  5. "AGM Plants – Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 33. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  6. "RHS Plantfinder – Dryopteris filix-mas" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "RHS Plantfinder – Dryopteris filix-mas 'Crispa Cristata'" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  8. "RHS Plantfinder – Dryopteris filix-mas 'Cristata'" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. "RHS Plantfinder – Dryopteris filix-mas 'Grandiceps Wills'" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  10. "RHS Plantfinder – Dryopteris filix-mas 'Linearis Polydactyla'" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  11. Vaakuna ja tunnukset - Nurmijärvi.fi (in Finnish)