Dryopteris cristata (L.) A. Gray

vernacular crested woodfern — species · Dryopteridaceae

USDA: DRCR4
GBIF: 5275110
Rank: species

crested woodfern (Dryopteris cristata) — Platephotograph · Len Worthington source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Group: Fern
Family: Dryopteridaceae Herter
Genus: Dryopteris

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: High
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 120 min.
Precipitation: 15–55 in/yr
pH range: 3.5–6.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1.6 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Brown
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Summer
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/DRCR4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5275110 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z