Flora of North America species comparison

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Cheilanthes bonariensis

Bonaire lip fern, golden lipfern
Stems

short-creeping to compact, usually 4–8 mm diam.;

scales bicolored, with broad, well-defined, dark, central stripe and narrow, light brown margins, narrowly lanceolate, slightly contorted, strongly appressed, persistent.
Leaves

clustered, 10–60 cm;

vernation noncircinate.
Petiole

dark brown, rounded adaxially.
Blade

linear, pinnate-pinnatifid throughout, 1–4 cm wide;

rachis rounded adaxially, lacking scales, with dense monomorphic pubescence.
Ultimate segments

elongate-deltate to ovate, not especially beadlike, the largest 1–7 mm, abaxially densely tomentose, adaxially hirsute.
Pinnae

articulate at swollen, hirsute nodes, basal pair slightly smaller than adjacent pair, ± equilateral, appearing hirsute adaxially.
False indusia

marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.
Sori

± continuous around segment margins.
Sporangia

containing 32 spores.
Costae

absent.
n

= 2n = 90, apogamous.

Cheilanthes bonariensis
Phenology Sporulating summer–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes and ledges, found on a variety of substrates though rarely observed on limestone
Elevation 1200–2400 m (3900–7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
Discussion

Cheilanthes bonariensis has been assigned to Notholaena in past treatments. It is distantly related (at best) to the species here included in Notholaena, however, and we concur with R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982) that it should be transferred to Cheilanthes. Chromosomal studies (G. J. Gastony and M. D. Windham 1989) suggest that C. bonariensis is an apogamous triploid that arose through autopolyploidy. Further investigation is necessary to determine whether 64-spored, sexually reproducing populations of C. bonariensis are still extant.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pteridaceae > Cheilanthes
Sibling taxa
C. aemula, C. alabamensis, C. arizonica, C. clevelandii, C. cooperae, C. covillei, C. eatonii, C. feei, C. fendleri, C. gracillima, C. horridula, C. intertexta, C. kaulfussii, C. lanosa, C. lendigera, C. leucopoda, C. lindheimeri, C. microphylla, C. newberryi, C. parryi, C. pringlei, C. tomentosa, C. villosa, C. viscida, C. wootonii, C. wrightii, C. yavapensis
Synonyms Acrostichum bonariense, Notholaena aurea
Name authority (Willdenow) Proctor: Bull. Inst. Jamaica, Sci. Ser. 5(1): 15. (1953)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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