The local ferns in the Dryopteris genus all have feather-like fronds, but they can be differentiated by their varying degrees of frilliness. The compound leaves of D. marginalis, the marginal wood fern, are much less intricate than those of Dryopteris intermedia, the evergreen wood fern, pictured here, and D. carthusiana, the spinulose wood fern. These latter two species have minor differences in leaf margins and in the length of certain leaflets and can be difficult to tell apart, but by this time of year only D. intermedia remains green.
An alternate name for this plant is fancy fern, ostensibly for its lacy ornamental quality. D. intermedia spends the cold months, though, in an un-fancy way: lying prostrate on the forest floor, as if taking a long winter’s nap.
