Flora of North America species comparison

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Cheilanthes eatonii

Cheilanthes covillei

Eaton's lip fern

Coville's lip fern
Stems

compact, 4–8 mm diam.;

scales mostly bicolored, with broad, well-defined, dark, central stripe and narrow, light brown margins, linear-lanceolate, straight to slightly contorted, loosely appressed, persistent.

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.
Leaves

clustered, 6–35 cm;

vernation noncircinate.

clustered, 5–30 cm;

vernation noncircinate.
Petiole

dark brown, rounded adaxially.

dark brown, rounded adaxially.
Blade

oblong-lanceolate, 3–4-pinnate at base, 1.5–5 cm wide;

rachis rounded adaxially, with scattered linear-lanceolate scales and monomorphic pubescence.

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

rachis rounded adaxially, somewhat scaly, not pubescent.
Ultimate segments

oval to round, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially densely tomentose, adaxially pubescent with fine, unbranched hairs or glabrescent.

round to oblong, beadlike, the largest 1–3 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 tomentose to glabrescent adaxially.

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.
False indusia

marginal to obscurely inframarginal, somewhat 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 32 spores.

containing 64 spores.
Costae

green adaxially for most of length;

abaxial scales multiseriate, lanceolate to linear, truncate or subcordate at base, without overlapping basal lobes, conspicuous, the largest 0.4–0.7 mm wide, loosely imbricate, not concealing ultimate segments, erose-dentate, rarely with 1–2 cilia at base on a few scales.

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.
n

= 2n = 90, 120, apogamous.

2n

= 60.

Cheilanthes eatonii

Cheilanthes covillei
Phenology Sporulating summer–fall. Sporulating late spring–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes and ledges, found on a variety of substrates including limestone and granite Rocky slopes, cliffs, and ledges, usually on igneous substrates
Elevation 300–3000 m (1000–9800 ft) 100–2500 m (300–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CO; NM; OK; TX; UT; VA; WV; Mexico; Central America in Costa Rica
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

As here circumscribed, Cheilanthes eatonii is a variable species comprising apogamous triploid and tetraploid cytotypes of unknown parentage. It includes plants previously identified as C. castanea and C. pinkavii (ined.). Type specimens of C. eatonii and C. castanea are quite distinct morphologically, but most plants here included within C. eatonii are intermediate between these two extremes (T. Reeves 1979). Because there is no clear morphologic break, C. castanea is placed here in synonymy under C. eatonii pending further study. Reports of hybridization between C. eatonii and C. villosa (D. B. Lellinger 1985) are based on specimens from western Texas and southern New Mexico that appear to be intermediate between these taxa in several characters. T. Reeves (1979) applied the name C. pinkavii to these specimens; that name has never been validly published. Formal recognition of this taxon is deferred pending completion of a biosystematic study of the C. eatonii complex as a whole.

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

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.)
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. covillei, 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. 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 C. castanea, C. eatonii Myriopteris covillei
Name authority Baker: in Hooker & Baker, Syn. Fil. 4: 140. (1867) Maxon: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 31: 147. (1918)
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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