Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Cheilanthes covillei

Cheilanthes fendleri

Coville's lip fern

Fendler's 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.

long-creeping, 1–3 mm diam.;

scales mostly uniformly brown, ovate-lanceolate, straight to slightly contorted, loosely appressed, often deciduous on older portions of stem.
Leaves

clustered, 5–30 cm;

vernation noncircinate.

scattered, 7–30 cm;

vernation noncircinate.
Petiole

dark brown, rounded adaxially.

usually dark brown, rounded adaxially.
Blade

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

rachis rounded adaxially, somewhat scaly, not pubescent.

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

rachis rounded adaxially, somewhat scaly, not pubescent.
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 oblong, beadlike, the largest 1.5–3 mm, abaxially glabrous or with a few small scales near base, adaxially glabrous.
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 not conspicuously larger than adjacent pair, usually equilateral, appearing glabrous adaxially.
False indusia

marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.

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

± continuous around segment margins.

± continuous around segment margins.
Sporangia

containing 64 spores.

containing 64 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.

green adaxially for most of length;

abaxial scales multiseriate, lanceolate-ovate, truncate or subcordate at base, without overlapping basal lobes, conspicuous, the largest 0.4–1.2 mm wide, strongly imbricate, often concealing ultimate segments, entire to denticulate, not ciliate.
2n

= 60.

= 60.

Cheilanthes covillei

Cheilanthes fendleri
Phenology Sporulating late spring–fall. Sporulating summer–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes, cliffs, and ledges, usually on igneous substrates Rocky slopes and ledges, found on a variety of acidic and mildly basic substrates
Elevation 100–2500 m (300–8200 ft) 1200–3100 m (3900–10200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; n Mexico
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.)

Young, sterile plants of Cheilanthes fendleri are occasionally misidentified as C. pringlei; they are distinguished from that species by having rachises that are rounded (not grooved) adaxially. Cheilanthes fendleri apparently hybridizes with both C. wootonii (T. Reeves 1979) and C. covillei (M. D. Windham, unpublished).

(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. feei, 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 Myriopteris fendleri
Name authority Maxon: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31: 147. (1918) Hooker: Sp. Fil. 2: 103, plate 107b. (1852)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers