Cinnamon woodfern

Dryopteris cinnamomea is a fern species belonging to the family Dryopteridaceae, native primarily to Mexico and the southern United States, particularly Texas and Arizona. It is part of the Dryopteris patula complex, a taxonomically challenging group of closely related species characterized by morphological variation in frond architecture and scale features. Morphometric analyses have confirmed D. cinnamomea as a distinct and valid species within this complex, distinguishable by a combination of traits such as basal pinna length, stipe scale morphology, and frond dimensions.