Dryopteris celsa (W.Palmer) Small

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Dryopteridaceae

• Scientific Name

  Dryopteris celsa (W.Palmer) Knowlt., T.S.Palmer & Pollard ex Small

• Description

  Species Description - Rhizome horizontal, short-creeping; lvs to 12 dm, deciduous; petiole 3–5 dm, with large, ± bicolored scales (dark medially, with paler margins) and small, almost hair-like, pale brown scales; blade ovate-oblong, 3.5–6(–8.5) dm, (1.5–)2–3 dm wide, not much tapered at the base, gradually tapering to the tip, pinnate-pinnatifid with to 18 pairs of pinnae, the larger pinnae with ca 12–15 pairs of distantly serrulate, scarcely spinulose segments, the larger segments mostly 1.5–2.5 cm; a few of the basal segments of the larger pinnae contracted below; basal pinna with the first segments shorter than the adjacent ones; sori borne midway between the midvein and the margins; 2n=164, thought to be an alloploid derived from no. 5 [Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) A. Gray ] and the more southern D. ludoviciana (Kunze) Small. On rotting logs and in humus-rich soil in moist or wet places; N.J. and se. Pa. to Va., S.C., and n. Ga., w. to s. Ill., e. Mo., and Tex.; disjunct in w. N.Y. and sw. Mich. Rare and local.

• Common Names

  log-fern