Dryopteris dilatata(Hoffm.) A.Gray

broad buckler-fern

WFO wfo-0001108304 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Derek Winterburn
fig. a Derek Winterburn, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-02 / obs. 202759844
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Andreas Stiller
fig. b Andreas Stiller, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201250195
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Zeke Marshall
fig. c Zeke Marshall, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201496862
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. d Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199688005
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Susan Marley
fig. e Susan Marley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197875916
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Stephen James McWilliam
fig. f Stephen James McWilliam, CC0 1.0 / obs. 198089901
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Petr Harant
fig. g Petr Harant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197818653
Dryopteris dilatata, photographed by Piermario Maculan
fig. h Piermario Maculan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 197328841

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 38 botanical countries

Regions where Dryopteris dilatata is native: Azores, Altay, Iran, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine AltayIranMongoliaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine AzoresFøroyar
Native distribution of Dryopteris dilatata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
Finland FIN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Azores AZO AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 78 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aspidium dilatatum (Hoffm.) Sm.
  • Aspidium dilatatum var. deltoideum (Milde) Borbás
  • Aspidium dilatatum var. majus Gray
  • Aspidium dilatatum var. minus Gray
  • Aspidium dilatatum var. oblongum (Milde) Borbás
  • Aspidium distans var. chanteriae (T.Moore) Milde
  • Aspidium distans var. oblongum Milde
  • Aspidium drepanum Schkuhr
  • Aspidium dumetorum Sm.
  • Aspidium spinulosum f. deltoideum (Milde) Zapal.
  • Aspidium spinulosum f. oblongum (Milde) Zapal.
  • Aspidium spinulosum f. recurvatum (Lasch) Asch.
  • Aspidium spinulosum subsp. dilatatum (Hoffm.) Celak.
  • Aspidium spinulosum subsp. recurvatum Lasch
  • Aspidium spinulosum var. deltoideum Milde
  • Aspidium spinulosum var. dilatatum (Hoffm.) Link
  • Aspidium spinulosum var. dilatatum (Hoffm.) Hampe
  • Aspidium spinulosum var. muticum A.Braun ex Döll
  • Aspidium spinulosum var. oblongum Milde
  • Aspidium tanacetifolium Opiz
  • Dryopteris alexeenkoana Fomin
  • Dryopteris aristata Druce
  • Dryopteris austriaca (Jacq.) Woyn. ex Schinz & Thell.
  • Dryopteris austriaca f. deltoidea (Milde) Tavel

and 54 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.