''Dryopteris filix-mas'', the male fern,
is a common fern of the
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
Northern Hemisphere,
native
Native may refer to:
People
* '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood
* '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Nat ...
to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas in the
understory
In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...
of woodlands, but also shady places on hedge-banks, and 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
The semi-
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
leaves have an upright habit and reach a maximum length of , with a single crown on each rootstock. The
bipinnate
The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...
leaves consist of 20–35 pinnae on each side of the
rachis
In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft".
In zoology and microbiology
In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...
. 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 five or six
sori develop in two rows. When the
spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...
s ripen in August to November, the
indusium
A sorus (: sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) in ferns and fungi. A coenosorus (: coenosori) is a compound sorus composed of multiple, fused sori.
Etymology
This Neo-Latin word is from Ancient Greek � ...
starts to shrivel, leading to the release of the spores.
This species
hybridises easily with ''
Dryopteris affinis
''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 ...
'' (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
Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass being Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Ce ...
.
Its
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''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
''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 (one of the more common ferns) in damp, shady woodland envi ...
''. being robust in appearance and vigorous in growth.
The Finnish name ''kivikkoalvejuuri'' refers to the anti-
cestoda
Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies co ...
(tapeworm) medical use it has had (see Culture section), as ''alve'' is an old word for cestoda.
Cultivation and uses
Numerous
cultivars
A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...
have been selected for garden use. The following have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
:
*''D. filix-mas''
*'Crispa Cristata'
*'Cristata'
*'Grandiceps Wills'
*'Linearis Polydactyla'
Culture
''D. filix-mas'' is culturally named the title plant of
Nurmijärvi
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 . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, mun ...
, the municipality in
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. 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
''Diphyllobothrium'' is a genus of tapeworms which can cause diphyllobothriasis in humans through consumption of raw or undercooked fish. The principal species causing diphyllobothriasis is ''D. latum'', known as the broad or fish tapeworm, ...
'' and
cestoda
Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies co ...
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.
Vaakuna ja tunnukset
- ''Nurmijärvi.fi'' (in Finnish) The medicine was also used to treat liver fluke
Liver fluke is a collective name of a polyphyletic group of parasitic trematodes under the phylum Platyhelminthes.
They are principally parasites of the liver of various mammals, including humans. Capable of moving along the blood circulation, ...
in sheep in Finland.
Toxicity
The rhizomes of ''D. filix-mas'' are toxic. Doses too big can cause serious poisoning, blindness and even death.
References
External links
Flora Europaea: ''Dryopteris filix-mas''
Flora of North America: ''Dryopteris filix-mas''
Jepson Manual Treatment
{{Authority control
filix-mas
Ferns of Asia
Ferns of the Americas
Ferns of Europe
Flora of Northeast Asia
Flora of Canada
Flora of Ontario
Ferns of the United States
Ferns of California
Flora of the Western United States
Flora of England
Flora of Estonia
Flora of Finland
Flora of Sweden
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus