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Scaly Male Fern

Dryopteris affinis

Also called Golden Scale Male Fern

Scaly Male Fern
Photo: MPF, CC BY 2.5

Dryopteris affinis is a large, nearly evergreen European woodland fern with light green fronds and a dense, tree-fern-like base. It thrives in moist, shaded, humid woodland conditions and is widely grown in cultivars.

Family
Dryopteridaceae (Wood fern family)
Grows as
Fern
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist, especially in summer, and never let it dry out completely.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, well-drained woodland soil or leafy garden loam.
Temperature
Hardy to around -15 °C; prefers cool, temperate conditions and dislikes prolonged heat.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Macaronesia, Europe to NW. Iran
Climate
temperate

About

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 and western France. In the Mediterranean region and the Caucasus it is confined to high altitudes.

How to grow it

Numerous cultivars and varieties have been selected for garden use, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

D. affinis

Other Dryopteris plants

Coastal woodfern · Shaggy Wood Fern · Broad buckler-fern · Autumn Fern · Male fern · Intermediate woodfern · Southern woodfern · Siebold's Wood Fern · Alpine woodfern · Woodfern · Wood Fern

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dryopteris affinis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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