Clinton'S Wood Fern vs Eastern Spreading Wood Fern

Dryopteris clintoniana compared with Dryopteris campyloptera

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clinton'S Wood Fern	Eastern Spreading Wood Fern
Kingdom same	Plantae (พืช)	Plantae (พืช)
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 clintoniana	Dryopteris campyloptera

Evolutionary Relationship

Clinton'S Wood Fern and Eastern Spreading Wood Fern share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Dryopteris.

Conservation Status

Clinton'S Wood Fern

NE — Not Evaluated

Eastern Spreading Wood Fern

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clinton'S Wood Fern	Eastern Spreading Wood Fern
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

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.

Eastern Spreading Wood Fern

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Canada, France, and United States.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇨🇦 Canada 🇺🇸 United States