FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Athyrium filix-femina, Lady-fern, Fjöllauffungur

Athyrium filix-femina; The Lady-fern is most common in the western parts of Iceland (from southwest to northwest) but is also found in other localities along the coast. It often grows in lava fissures.
It is very similar to the Alpine Lady-fern. It is also has bipinnate (almost tripinnate) deeply incised leaves and it also shares the leaflet-margins feature (more or less folded downwards). The fronds are more or less 40cm to 60cm long.
The defining difference is the shape of the sporangia and the more persistent indusia. The sporangia are not round but rather reniform, oblong or hooked shaped. The indusia are still present on mature leaves.
It is member of the Athyriaceae, the Lady-fern family. The Icelandic name for this species is Fjöllauffungur.