Broad Buckler Fern vs Common Male Fern

Dryopteris expansa compared with Dryopteris filix-mas

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Broad Buckler Fern	Common Male Fern
Kingdom same	Plantae (plantas)	Plantae (plantas)
Phylum same	Tracheophyta	Tracheophyta
Class same	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order same	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)
Family same	Dryopteridaceae	Dryopteridaceae
Genus same	Dryopteris	Dryopteris
Species	Dryopteris expansa	Dryopteris filix-mas

Evolutionary Relationship

Broad Buckler Fern and Common Male Fern share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Dryopteris.

Conservation Status

Broad Buckler Fern

LC — Least Concern

Common Male Fern

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Broad Buckler Fern	Common Male Fern
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Broad Buckler Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (7 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Common Male Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Chile).

Broad Buckler Fern

The Broad Buckler Fern (Dryopteris expansa) is a species in the genus Dryopteris. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Common Male Fern

<em>Dryopteris filix-mas</em>, the common male fern, is a robust, semi-evergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, widely distributed across Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. This species typically grows in moist, shaded forest floors, hedgebanks, rocky slopes, and stream margins, preferring acidic to neutral soils in temperate environments. The common male fern produces large, pinnate fronds that can reach over one metre in length, arising from a central crown of scaly rhizomes. It is one of the most familiar ferns of the Northern Hemisphere and has been used medicinally for centuries, with extracts historically employed as an anthelmintic to treat tapeworm infections. The species reproduces via spores produced in kidney-shaped sori arranged in rows on the undersides of fertile fronds. Common male fern plays an important role in forest ecosystems, providing shelter and habitat structure for invertebrates and small vertebrates across its broad temperate range.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States