Woodwardia

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Polypodiales
Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Diaphoretickes Cladus: CAM Cladus: Archaeplastida Regnum: Plantae Divisio: Tracheophyta Divisio: Pteridophyta Classis: Polypodiopsida Ordo: Polypodiales

Familia: Blechnaceae
Subfamilia: Woodwardioideae
Genus: Woodwardia
Species: W. auriculata – W. fimbriata – W. harlandii – W. × intermedia – W. × izuensis – W. japonica – W. kempii – W. magnifica – W. martinezii – W. orientalis – W. prolifera – W. radicans – W. semicordata – W. spinulosa – W. unigemmata

Source(s) of checklist:
Hassler, M. 2025. World Ferns. Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. . Woodwardia Accessed: 29 Sep 2025. Reference page.

Fossil: †W. aurora – †W. clarus

Unresolved names: W. areolata

Name

Woodwardia Sm., Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. (Turin) 5: 411, pl. 9, fig. 3 (1793).

Type species: Woodwardia radicans (L.) Sm. (Lectotype designated by J. Smith, Hist. Fil. 310 (1875))

Synonyms

Heterotypic
- Chieniopteris Ching, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 9: 37 (1964).

Distribution

Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
- Regional: Northern Europe
  - Great Britain, Ireland (introduced).
- Regional: Southwestern Europe
  - Corse, France (introduced), Portugal, Spain.
- Regional: Southeastern Europe
  - Italy, Kriti, Sicilia.
Continental: Africa
- Regional: Northern Africa
  - Algeria.
- Regional: Macaronesia
  - Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira.
Continental: Asia-Temperate
- Regional: China
  - China South-Central, Hainan, China North-Central, China Southeast, Tibet.
- Regional: Eastern Asia
  - Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan.
Continental: Asia-Tropical
- Regional: Indian Subcontinent
  - Assam, East Himalaya, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya.
- Regional: Indo-China
  - Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam.
- Regional: Malesia
  - Jawa, Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera.
- Regional: Papuasia
  - New Guinea.
Continental: Northern America
- Regional: Western Canada
  - British Columbia.
- Regional: Eastern Canada
  - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec.
- Regional: Northwestern U.S.A.
  - Oregon, Washington.
- Regional: North-Central U.S.A.
  - Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma.
- Regional: Northeastern U.S.A.
  - Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia.
- Regional: Southwestern U.S.A.
  - Arizona, California, Nevada.
- Regional: South-Central U.S.A.
  - Texas.
- Regional: Southeastern U.S.A.
  - Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia.
- Regional: Mexico
  - Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast.
Continental: Southern America
- Regional: Central America
  - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2^nd Edition

References

Primary references

Smith, J.E. 1793. Tentamen botanicum. De filicum generibus dorsiferarum. Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences 5: 401–422, pl. IX. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Pabst, M.B. 1968. The flora of the Chuckanut Formation: the Equisetales, Filicales, and Coniferales. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 76: i–v, 1–85. Reference page.
Pigg, K.B. & Rothwell, G.W. 2001. Anatomically preserved Woodwardia virginica (Blechnaceae) and a new Filicalean fern from the Middle Miocene Yakima Canyon Flora of central Washington, USA. American Journal of Botany 88(5): 777–787. DOI: 10.2307/2657030 Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2023. Woodwardia in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2023 Jan 16. Reference page. (including Anchistea and Lorinseria)
Tropicos.org 2023. Woodwardia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 16 Jan 2023. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2023. Woodwardia. Published online. Accessed: 16 Jan 2023. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2025. World Ferns. Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. . Woodwardia Accessed: 29 Sep 2025. Reference page.