About Dryopteris villarii (Bellardi) Woyn. ex Schinz & Thell.
Dryopteris villarii (Bellardi) Woyn. ex Schinz & Thell. typically grows to heights of 30 to 60 cm. Its fronds are rigid, leathery, and have a matte glaucous to dark green colour. The petioles and rachis are reddish and covered in scales. Fronds grow in tufts, and can be either erect or spreading. Its short bipinnate leaflets are narrowly oblong-lanceolate, slightly toothed, narrow more closely toward the base, and have yellowish aromatic glands on both sides. This fern has far-creeping adventitious rhizomes that grow from horizontal to ascending. Sori measure between 0.7 mm and 1 mm, are arranged in two rows along the midrib, usually have four to six sori per row, and typically have a glandular indusium. Sori do not cover the apex of the leaf blade. Dryopteris villarii grows on dolomite and limestone pavements, scree, cliffsides, rocky outcrops, in scrub, and in non-alpine, non-saline grasslands. It occurs at elevations between 500 m and 2000 m. It can tolerate any soil type, though it prefers alkaline soils.
