4. Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) A. Gray (Goldie's fern) Pl. 6e,f; Map 24

Rhizome and petiole scales dark brown, concolorous or sometimes with lighter margins, shiny, linear to ovate. Leaves 50–125 cm long, monomorphic, herbaceous to papery. Leaf blades elliptic to somewhat obovate in outline, tapering abruptly to the tip and broadest at or above the middle, pinnately compound above to sometimes 2 times pinnately compound below, glabrous, flat. Pinnae 2–19 cm long, ovate-lanceolate to linear, the tips attenuate, the margins shallowly toothed, the pinnules entire to deeply lobed. Basal lower segment of basal pinna about as long as the basal upper segment and shorter than the adjacent basal segment. Sori usually closer to the midribs than to the margins of the pinnules or pinnule lobes. Indusia glabrous, thin, usually shriveling at maturity. Spores 41–47 mm long. 2n=82. June–October.

Uncommon and widely scattered in Missouri, mostly south of the Missouri River (northeastern U.S. west to Iowa and south to Louisiana). Spring branches, mesic upland forests of ravines and drainages, bottoms of sinkhole ponds, shaded sandstone ledges, and shaded rock outcrops, on various substrates.

Missouri is at the southwestern edge of this species’ distribution, which may explain the highly disjunct, seemingly random pattern of localities and the broad range of habitats in the state. For a discussion of problems in separating this species from the closely related D. celsa, see the treatment of that species. Also, for a brief mention of a potential hybrid with D. marginalis, see the treatment of D. marginalis.