Goldie’s Woodfern

Dryopteris goeldiana

Pollinator Value

❄️ Winter Food Source: Ruffed Grouse include Dryopteris fronds as 1.5% of diet items; Willow Ptarmigan consume fronds at 6% occurrence in diet studies. Persistent dead fronds may provide minor forage through winter.
S57

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ✅ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Globally secure (G5) with national rank N4 in Canada. S4 in both Ontario and Quebec. Not SARA-listed. Regionally significant as an indicator of undisturbed old-growth forest remnants; listed as RS (regionally significant) in Ottawa with 7 known sites.
S22 S26 S62
Rarity Ranks: QC S4 – Apparently Secure, ON S4 – Apparently Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Indicator of high-quality rich mesic deciduous forests, typically old-growth sugar maple-basswood-beech communities where shrub competition is reduced. Found in wooded ravines, shaded cliff bases, and swamp edges on fertile organic soils. Requires high humidity and wind protection.
S10 S62

Roles: ground cover, living mulch
S73 herb layer fern; S10 forms rosettes providing ground-level cover in forest understory

❌ Not Edible