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male fern
Dryopteris filix-mas
Dryopteris filix-mas, the 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.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the old herbals & bestiaries
De medicinali materia libri sex
Dioscorides · 1552 · p.669
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1462
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.627
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.628
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.811
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1563 · p.726
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1563 · p.726
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1463
Discourses on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Dioscorides; Pietro Andrea Mattioli (comm.) · 1568 · p.1534
Discourses on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Dioscorides; Pietro Andrea Mattioli (comm.) · 1568 · p.1535
A New Herbal, or History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens (trans. Henry Lyte) · 1578 · p.426
A New Herbal, or History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens (trans. Henry Lyte) · 1578 · p.426
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Dryopteris filix-mas in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 76721.