Question: hello once again...can you please confirm if this fern is spinulose wood fern (dryopteris carthusiana) I have pictures of it …
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Question
hello once again...can you please confirm if this fern is spinulose wood fern (dryopteris carthusiana) I have pictures of it here and I was able to get a good shot of the basal pina which as you can see has the first two downward pinules larger than the other pinules and according to my book is diagnostic,,though the book only says the first pinule and in this fern I have here its the first two very lacy fern, I have a shot of the sori as well.. it was in Dover, Mass today... thanks a lot...
Answer
Dear craymond, this image is Dryopteris intermedia (evergreen wood fern). The first leafules on the lower side of the lowest leaflets do show some variation. In the image you have here, one of these leafules isn't textbook, but that on the other side is (and I can see other leaves in your images and they show the characteristic pattern of Dryopteris intermedia). Also, note that this fern is quite green (Dryopteris carthusiana has deciduous leaves that would be brown and senescing at this point). If you have magnification, you can also look for stipitate glands along the rachis and costa (midrib of leaf and leaflets, respectively), present in D. intermedia and absent in D. carthusiana. Feel free to email me at ahaines[at]newenglandwild.org if anything I've shared here is unclear.
