Leaves monomorphic, dying back in winter, 65--120 × 15--30 cm. Petiole 1/3 length of leaf, scaly at least at base; scales scattered, dark brown or tan with dark central stripe. Blade green, ovate-lanceolate, gradually tapering to tip, pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous, not glandular. Pinnae ± in plane of blade, lanceolate-ovate; basal pinnae linear-oblong, much reduced, basal pinnules longer than adjacent pinnules, basal basiscopic pinnule and basal acroscopic pinnule equal; pinnule margins crenately toothed. Sori midway between midvein and margin of segments. Indusia lacking glands. 2 n = 164. Seepage slopes, hammocks and logs in swamps, mostly on the Piedmont and Coastal Plain; 50--800 m; Ala., Ark., Del., Ga., Ill., Ky., La., Md., Mich., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va. Dryopteris celsa is a fertile allotetraploid derived from hybridization between D . goldiana and D . ludoviciana . Dryopteris celsa hybridizes with six species; hybrids can usually be identified by the dark-striped scales.

Rhizome horizontal, short-creeping; lvs to 12 dm, deciduous; petiole 3-5 dm, with large, ±bicolored scales (dark medially, with paler margins) and small, almost hair-like, pale brown scales; blade ovate-oblong, 3.5-6(-8.5) dm, (1.5-)2-3 dm wide, not much tapered at the base, gradually tapering to the tip, pinnate-pinnatifid with to 18 pairs of pinnae, the larger pinnae with ca 12-15 pairs of distantly serrulate, scarcely spinulose segments, the larger segments mostly 1.5-2.5 cm; a few of the basal segments of the larger pinnae contracted below; basal pinna with the first segments shorter than the adjacent ones; sori borne midway between the midvein and the margins; 2n=164, thought to be an alloploid derived from no. 5 [Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) A. Gray ] and the more southern D. ludoviciana (Kunze) Small. On rotting logs and in humus-rich soil in moist or wet places; N.J. and se. Pa. to Va., S.C., and n. Ga., w. to s. Ill., e. Mo., and Tex.; disjunct in w. N.Y. and sw. Mich. Rare and local.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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