This fern is common in damp open places in north and west Britain, but less so in the southeast. It looks superficially like Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) but is not closely related. The pinnae are more pointed, the sori and scales differ, and a useful distinguishing character is that the grooves on the top of the main rachis and the pinna-rachises (costae) are not connected in this species, but are in Male Fern. North Mull, Sept 9th 2011, I11-0324.
