Dryopteris nicaraguensis (Fourn.) Christensen Terrestrial, 30-100 cm tall; rhizome moderately long-creeping, the petiole bases close together, but only a few leaves borne at any one time. Leaves 1-pinnate-pinnatifid; petioles as long as or much longer than blades; petiole and rachis with moderately dense, short puberulence, the trichomes simple to stalked and minutely tufted at apex; leaflets oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, pinnatifid, divided one-half to two-thirds of the way to midrib, less so toward apex, ultimately long-acuminate and entire, lobed to near base, the base rounded to cuneate, mostly 10-21 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm wide, the veins sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, especially below, the trichomes short, stiff, sharply pointed; lobes 5-8 mm wide, curved slightly toward apex of leaflets; 2 or more pairs of connivent veins at the sinus between the lobes. Sori close, round, exindusiate, borne on veins in a row on either side of the midrib of the lobe; sporangia glabrous, interspersed with a few short acicular paraphyses. Croat 4251. Abundant in the forest and at the edges of clearings. The species is easily confused with T. tristis (Kunze) Tryon, which does not occur on BCI. Guatemala to Panama; usually at less than 300 m altitude. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Bocas del Toro, San Blas, Panama, and Darien and from tropical wet forest in Colón.