Crested shield fern

Family: shield ferns. It is widespread in the northern and central parts of Europe and in North America.

Perennial plant 30–50 cm tall, with a somewhat thickened, shortened rhizome. Leaves dark green, leathery, glossy, with long petioles, twice pinnately divided. Fertile fronds are elongate-lanceolate, erect, in some cases reaching up to 70 cm in length; sterile fronds are shorter, oblong. First-order segments on sterile fronds are close-set, while on fertile fronds they are somewhat more widely spaced. There are few sori, they are arranged in two rows. Sporulates in July–September.