English name: Broad Buckler-fern
Gaelic name: Raineach nan Radan

Synonym: Dryopteris austriaca 

Atlas of Ferns:
Post 1950 records: Recorded in all hectads except NG35, 36, 43, 54.

British Pteridophyte Records:
The Fern Gazette Volume 12, Part 5, (1983): NG43 C. W. Murray.

Botanist in Skye: Recorded in all hectads except NG35, NG36, NG56, NG63, NG65.

New Atlas:
1950-1969: NG34.
1970-1986: NG35, 46.
1987-1999: All other hectads. 

Altitude distribution on Skye
Minimum: 30m.
Maximum: 335m.

Dryopteris dilatata is abundant throughout the Island especially in wooded areas it can also be frequently found in sheltered areas on high moorlands. Athyrium filix-femina, Oreopteris limbosperma, Blechnum spicant and Pteridium aquilinum are commonly found with it in woodlands although on moorlands it can often be the only fern present or with Polystichum lonchitis at higher altitudes. In Rodwell (ed.) (1991, 1992) it occurs in the W4b, W7b, W9, W11a, W11b, W17a, W25, W25a, U16a and U17b communities. In Birks (1973) it occurs in the Luzula sylvatica-Vaccinium myrtillus, Betula pubescens-Cirsium heterophyllum, Sedum rosea-Alchemilla glabra, Betula pubescens-Vaccinium myrtillus and Corylus avellana-Oxalis acetosella Associations.

In Rodwell et al. (2000) it states that it may be sensible to recognise distinct communities of non-native conifers where there is usually just a very sparse field layer of puny Deschampsia flexuosa, Oxalis acetosella and Dryopteris dilatata and only scattered patches of Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans, Mnium hornum and Plagiothecium undulatum with a deep layer of conifer needles.