Flora of North America species comparison

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Cheilanthes covillei

Cheilanthes feei

Coville's lip fern

slender lip fern
Stems

short-creeping, usually 2–4 mm diam.;

scales usually uniformly dark brown to black or rarely with narrow, light brown margins, linear-lanceolate, straight to slightly contorted, strongly appressed, persistent.

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

scales often uniformly brown but at least some on each plant with well-defined, dark, central stripe, linear-lanceolate, slightly contorted, loosely appressed, persistent.
Leaves

clustered, 5–30 cm;

vernation noncircinate.

clustered, 4–20 cm;

vernation circinate.
Petiole

dark brown, rounded adaxially.

dark brown to black, rounded adaxially.
Blade

lanceolate to ovate-deltate, 3–4-pinnate at base, 1.5–5 cm wide;

rachis rounded adaxially, somewhat scaly, not pubescent.

linear-oblong to lanceolate, 3-pinnate at base, 1–3 cm wide;

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

round to oblong, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially glabrous or with a few small scales near base, adaxially glabrous.

round to slightly oblong, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially densely villous with long, segmented hairs, adaxially sparsely hirsute to glabrescent.
Pinnae

not articulate, dark color of stalk continuing into pinna base, basal pair not conspicuously larger than adjacent pair, usually equilateral, appearing glabrous (or somewhat scaly) adaxially.

not articulate, dark color of stalk continuing into pinna base, basal pair usually smaller than adjacent pair, ± equilateral, appearing sparsely pubescent to glabrescent adaxially.
False indusia

marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.

marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.20 mm wide.
Sori

± continuous around segment margins.

± continuous around segment margins.
Sporangia

containing 64 spores.

containing 32 spores.
Costae

green adaxially for most of length;

abaxial scales multiseriate, ovate-lanceolate, deeply cordate at base, with overlapping basal lobes, conspicuous, the largest 0.4–1.5 mm wide, strongly imbricate, usually concealing ultimate segments, ciliate only on basal lobes.

brown adaxially for most of length;

abaxial scales absent.
n

= 2n = 90, apogamous.
2n

= 60.

Cheilanthes covillei

Cheilanthes feei
Phenology Sporulating late spring–fall. Sporulating late spring–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes, cliffs, and ledges, usually on igneous substrates Calcareous cliffs and ledges, usually on limestone or sandstone
Elevation 100–2500 m (300–8200 ft) 100–3800 m (300–12500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; IL; KS; KY; MN; MO; MT; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; VA; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Cheilanthes covillei can be difficult to distinguish from the closely related C. intertexta and C. clevelandii; it differs from these two species in having glabrous blades and costal scales ciliate only on the basal lobes. Cheilanthes covillei is occasionally misidentified as C. fendleri because the cilia of the scales are often obscure; it is distinguished from the latter species by having rigid, dark brown stem scales that are strongly appressed. Cheilanthes covillei hybridizes with C. parryi and C. newberryi to form rare, sterile diploids known as C. × parishii Davenport and C. × fibrillosa (Davenport) Davenport ex Underwood, respectively. A third sterile diploid hybrid with C. fendleri has recently been discovered in central Arizona (M. D. Windham, unpublished).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Cheilanthes feei is an apogamous triploid of unknown parentage. It has small, beadlike blade segments similar to those of subg. Physapteris, but most morphological characteristics suggest a clear relationship to members of subg. Cheilanthes (T. Reeves 1979). The species is most often confused with C. parryi, from which it can be distinguished by its thinner, sparser pubescence and smaller ultimate segments.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pteridaceae > Cheilanthes Pteridaceae > Cheilanthes
Sibling taxa
C. aemula, C. alabamensis, C. arizonica, C. bonariensis, C. clevelandii, C. cooperae, 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
C. aemula, C. alabamensis, C. arizonica, C. bonariensis, C. clevelandii, C. cooperae, C. covillei, C. eatonii, 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 Myriopteris covillei
Name authority Maxon: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31: 147. (1918) T. Moore: Index Fil. 38. (1857)
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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