Austrian shield fern

Family: shield ferns. Native to Western Europe (except the southern part), the Caucasus, the Far East, and North America.

Grows in moist and wet places, along the banks of streams and lakes, on forested bogs, on fresh humus soil and peatlands, less often on dry, less shaded sites; predominantly inhabits alder stands, less frequently other deciduous forests. Occurs from the lowlands to the montane belt.

An anthelmintic extract is obtained from the rhizome.

Fronds deltoid, thrice pinnate, up to 50 (up to 90) cm tall. First-order segments lanceolate; second-order segments usually pinnately dissected, often with numerous membranes and glands on the underside; third-order segments obtuse, at the apex broadly toothed; teeth long, ending in a soft long bristle. Petioles yellow. Rhizomes long, creeping. A groundcover plant, grows well in shade. Reproduces by spores and fragments of the rhizome. Spores mature in July–August.