Crested Wood Fern
Dryopteris cristata
Crested wood fern is a wetland fern of swamps and marsh edges, with distinctive ladder-like fertile fronds held stiffly upright. Tolerates standing water.
- Family
- Dryopteridaceae
- Type
- fern
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1.6–1.6 ft
- Spacing
- 2–6 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom colors
- brown
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing, rain garden
- Native states
- AL, CT, DC, DE, IA, ID, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV
Related native plants
More Dryopteris species
- Intermediate Wood Fern (Dryopteris intermedia)
- Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis)
- Spinulose Wood Fern (Dryopteris carthusiana)
- Spreading Wood Fern (Dryopteris expansa)
- Southern Wood Fern (Dryopteris ludoviciana)
- Goldie's Wood Fern (Dryopteris goldiana)