Perennial fern 15 - 75 cm tall Leaves: clustered, stalked, green, narrow, twice pinnately compound, typically hairless on upper surface. Rhizome: short-creeping, horizontal, scaly. Spores: misshapen, sterile.

Similar species: Dryopteris x uliginosa is most similar to its two parent species, D. cristata and D. carthusiana. Its distinguishing characteristics are that it has twice pinnately compound leaves as in D. carthusiana, but the leaf blades are narrow with the lowest leaf divisions (pinnae) being triangular. It also only produces sterile, misshapen spores.

Habitat and ecology: Very rare, only reported in Porter County, Indiana in shaded woods.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Dryopteris is from the Greek drys (oak), and pteris (fern) referring to the plant's habitat. Uliginosa refers to growing in bogs and swamps.

Author: The Field Museum