Astrolepis cochisensis
Astrolepis
Cochise scaly cloakfern, scaly cloak-fern
cloakfern, star-scale cloak ferns
compact;
stem scales uniformly tan or somewhat darker near base, to 10 mm, margins ciliate-dentate to entire.
compact to short-creeping, erect to ascending, sparingly branched;
scales tan to chestnut brown, concolored to weakly bicolored, linear-attenuate, margins ciliate-dentate to entire.
7–40 cm.
monomorphic, densely clustered, 7–130 cm.
dull chestnut brown or straw-colored, rounded adaxially, sparsely to densely covered with scales, with 2 vascular bundles.
1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, pinna pairs 20–50.
linear to linear-oblong, 1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, leathery, abaxially covered with overlapping, lanceolate to ovate, ciliate scales with underlying layer of stellate scales, adaxially sparsely to densely covered with stellate or coarsely ciliate scales, often glabrescent when mature, dull, not striate;
rachis straight.
(pinnae) stalked to subsessile, free from axis, ovate, oblong or elongate-deltate, cordate to subcordate or rarely truncate at base, usually more than 4 mm wide;
segment margins plane, undifferentiated, not recurved to form false indusia.
oblong, largest usually 4–7 mm, entire or asymmetrically lobed, lobes 1–4, broadly rounded, separated by shallow sinuses;
abaxial scales completely concealing surface, ovate, usually 0.5–1 mm, ciliate with coarse marginal projections;
adaxial scales sparse, deciduous, stellate to coarsely ciliate, mostly circular to elliptic, peltate, body more than 5 cells wide.
of ultimate segments obscure, pinnately branched and divergent distally.
containing 32 or 64 spores.
scattered along veins near pinna margins (often clustered near notches between pinna lobes), containing 32 or 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
light to dark brown, tetrahedral-globose, rugose, lacking prominent equatorial ridge.
glabrous.
indusium absent.
= 29.
Astrolepis cochisensis
Astrolepis
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Astrolepis cochisensis is reported to be toxic to sheep (F. P. Mathews 1945). Three cytotypes that occupy different ranges and/or habitats have been identified and are treated here as subspecies. These include a sexual diploid (subsp. chihuahuensis) found on calcareous substrates in the Chihuahuan Desert; an apogamous triploid (subsp. cochisensis), which inhabits primarily calcareous substrates in the Sonoran, Mojavean, and western Chihuahuan deserts; and an apogamous tetraploid (subsp. arizonica), which occupies primarily noncalcareous substrates in southern Arizona. Isozyme analyses suggest that subsp. cochisensis is an autotriploid derivative of the diploid subsp. chihuahuensis (D. M. Benham 1989). Both the isozymes and substrate preferences of subsp. arizonica indicate, however, that it is not a simple autotetraploid and that other taxa remain to be discovered within the Astrolepis cochisensis complex.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The species of Astrolepis have traditionally been assigned to either Notholaena (R. M. Tryon 1956) or Cheilanthes (J. T. Mickel 1979b; R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon 1982). Recent biosystematic analyses by D. M. Benham and M. D. Windham (1992) indicate, however, that the star-scaled cloak ferns form a distinctive, monophyletic group worthy of generic recognition. The combination of a chromosome base number of x = 29, pinnate leaves, two vascular bundles in the petioles, unique stellate or coarsely ciliate scales on the adaxial blade surface, and other characteristics separate Astrolepis from related genera.
Species ca. 8 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Sporangia containing 64 spores; spores averaging 39– 46 µm diam.; plants of calcareous substrates in Texas, s New Mexico. | subsp. chihuahuensis |
1. Sporangia containing 32 spores; spores averaging 59– 86 µm diam.; plants of calcareous and noncalcareous substrates in California, Arizona, Nevada, w New Mexico, extreme w Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, n Mexico. | → 2 |
2. Spores averaging 59–70 µm diam.; plants primarily of calcareous substrates throughout Southwest. | subsp. cochisensis |
2. Spores averaging 72–86 µm diam.; plants primarily of noncalcareous substrates in s Arizona. | subsp. arizonica |
1. Largest pinnae usually 4–7 mm; most adaxial scales circular to elliptic, peltate; abaxial scales ovate, usually 0.5–1 mm. | A. cochisensis |
1. Largest pinnae usually 7–35 mm; most adaxial scales elongate, attached at their base; abaxial scales lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm. | → 2 |
2. Adaxial scales dense, usually persistent; largest pinnae asymmetrically lobed or entire; body of adaxial pinna scales 5–7 cells wide. | A. integerrima |
2. Adaxial scales sparse, often deciduous; largest pinnae usually symmetrically lobed; body of adaxial pinna scales 1–4 cells wide. | → 3 |
3. Adaxial pinna surface sparsely scaly, at least some scales persistent; body of adaxial scales 2–4 cells wide; abaxial scales ciliate with coarse marginal projections; pinnae shallowly lobed, lobes usually broadly rounded. | A. windhamii |
3. Adaxial pinna surface sparsely scaly to glabrescent, most scales deciduous with age; body of adaxial scales 1–2 cells wide; abaxial scales ciliate-dentate with delicate marginal projections; pinnae usually deeply lobed, lobes often acute. | A. sinuata |
CA
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