large widespread genus of medium-sized terrestrial ferns; in some classification systems placed in Polypodiaceae

Dryopteris (commonly called Wood Ferns, Male Ferns and Buckler Ferns) is a genus of about 250 species of ferns with distribution in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in eastern Asia. Many of the species have stout, slowly creeping rootstocks that form a crown, with a vase-like ring of fronds. The sori are round, with a peltate indusium.