Soft Shield-fern

The Soft Shield-fern, Polystichum setiferum, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe, with bright green fronds thirty to one hundred twenty centimeters long and a soft texture marked by bristly pinnule tips, its stalks and midribs covered in cinnamon-brown scales. It grows in woodlands, particularly on steep slopes, favoring places with mild winters and consistently moist summers. It is most common in Ireland, southwestern Great Britain, western France, and northwestern Iberia, with a range reaching north to Scotland and east to Crimea and Turkey, though its Mediterranean populations tend to sit at higher elevations.