English: Hard-fern; Hard fern; Deer fern.
Synonym:
Struthiopteris spicant.
Name: Latin spicant possibly refers to a tufted or spiky habit.
Clades:
BlechnaceaeRegion: Europe, western Asia, northern Africa, western North America.
BotanyRhizome: with scales, hairs.
Leaves: 2 types; sterile leaves have flat, wavy-margined leaflets 5 to 8 mm wide; fertile leaves have much narrower leaflets, each with two thick rows of sori on the underside.
Habitat: hardy down to −20°C
Fern; evergreen; 50 cm tall.
TaxonomyIn the Pteridophyte
Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is placed in the genus Struthiopteris, in the subfamily Blechnoideae.