General: Perennial in vase-like clusters from a stout, creeping rhizome.
Leaves: Overwintering, oblong-lanceolate, broadest in the middle and narrowed towards the top and less towards the bottom, 20-60 cm long, 5-25 cm wide, 1-pinnate, the pinnae deeply cut; segments with small, spiny teeth along the margin.
Dryopteris arguta may be confused with Dryopteris filix-mas, which is a similar species but lacks the long spreading spine-like teeth on pinnules and the lance shaped, chestnut coloured scales on the undersides of pinnae of D. arguta. Scales on pinnae of D. filix-mas are linear or hair-like (Jamison and Douglas 1998).
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
