Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes fendleri
Eaton's lip fern
Fendler's lip fern
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.
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.
clustered, 6–35 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
scattered, 7–30 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
dark brown, rounded adaxially.
usually dark brown, rounded adaxially.
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.
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 1.5–3 mm, abaxially glabrous or with a few small scales near base, adaxially glabrous.
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 adaxially.
marginal to obscurely inframarginal, somewhat differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.
marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.
± continuous around segment margins.
± continuous around segment margins.
containing 32 spores.
containing 64 spores.
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, 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 = 90, 120, apogamous.
= 60.
Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes fendleri
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.)
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.)
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