Clinton'S Wood Fern vs Komodo Dragon

Dryopteris clintoniana compared with Varanus komodoensis

Key Differences

Clinton'S Wood Fern is Not Evaluated while Komodo Dragon is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clinton'S Wood Fern	Komodo Dragon
Kingdom	Plantae (растения)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (хордовые)
Class	Polypodiopsida (папоротниковые)	Reptilia (пресмыкающиеся)
Order	Polypodiales (многоножковые)	Squamata (чешуйчатые)
Family	Dryopteridaceae	Varanidae (Monitor Lizards)
Genus	Dryopteris	Varanus (Monitor Lizards)
Species	Dryopteris clintoniana	Varanus komodoensis

Conservation Status

Clinton'S Wood Fern

NE — Not Evaluated

Komodo Dragon

EN — Endangered

Population: ~3.5K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clinton'S Wood Fern	Komodo Dragon
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	30 years
Average Length	—	2.6 m
Average Weight	—	70.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clinton'S Wood Fern

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Canada and United States.

Komodo Dragon

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Indonesia. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clinton'S Wood Fern

Clinton's Wood Fern, Dryopteris clintoniana, is a large, robust fern in the family Dryopteridaceae native to eastern North America, ranging from Nova Scotia and New England south through the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Lakes region. It inhabits rich, moist, shaded forests including floodplain woodland, mesic slopes, and forested wetland margins, growing in soils with abundant leaf litter and high organic matter content. Clinton's Wood Fern is a tetraploid hybrid fern, arising from crosses between Dryopteris cristata (Crested Wood Fern) and Dryopteris goldiana (Goldie's Fern), and inherits intermediate characteristics from both parents. The fronds are large, once-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, with broad, dark green pinnae that have rounded, finely toothed lobes. Like many hybrid ferns, it is fertile and reproduces apogamously. The species is named for DeWitt Clinton, as is Clinton's Bulrush, reflecting his early contributions to American natural history. Clinton's Wood Fern is considered relatively rare within its range, partly because it requires the specific combination of parental species in suitable habitat. Threats include forest clearance, invasive species, and changes in forest hydrology. It is listed as a species of conservation concern in several northeastern states.