Flora of North America species comparison

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Cheilanthes eatonii

Cheilanthes feei

Eaton's lip fern

slender 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.

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, 6–35 cm;

vernation noncircinate.

clustered, 4–20 cm;

vernation circinate.
Petiole

dark brown, rounded adaxially.

dark brown to black, 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.

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

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

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

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 tomentose to glabrescent 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 to obscurely inframarginal, somewhat 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 32 spores.

containing 32 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.

brown adaxially for most of length;

abaxial scales absent.
n

= 2n = 90, 120, apogamous.

= 2n = 90, apogamous.

Cheilanthes eatonii

Cheilanthes feei
Phenology Sporulating summer–fall. Sporulating late spring–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes and ledges, found on a variety of substrates including limestone and granite Calcareous cliffs and ledges, usually on limestone or sandstone
Elevation 300–3000 m (1000–9800 ft) 100–3800 m (300–12500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CO; NM; OK; TX; UT; VA; WV; Mexico; Central America in Costa Rica
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

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 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. 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. 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 C. castanea, C. eatonii
Name authority Baker: in Hooker & Baker, Syn. Fil. 4: 140. (1867) 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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