Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes kaulfussii
Eaton's lip fern
glandular 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.
short-creeping, usually 4–8 mm diam.;
scales uniformly black or with narrow brown margins, linear-subulate, straight to slightly contorted, strongly appressed, persistent.
clustered, 6–35 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
clustered, 8–35 cm;
vernation circinate.
dark brown, rounded adaxially.
dark brown, flattened or slightly grooved distally on adaxial surface.
oblong-lanceolate, 3–4-pinnate at base, 1.5–5 cm wide;
rachis rounded adaxially, with scattered linear-lanceolate scales and monomorphic pubescence.
elongate-pentagonal, 3-pinnate-pinnatifid to 4-pinnate at base, 3–10 cm wide;
rachis grooved adaxially, lacking scales, with monomorphic pubescence.
oval to round, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially densely tomentose, adaxially pubescent with fine, unbranched hairs or glabrescent.
linear-oblong, not especially beadlike, largest 3–8 mm, abaxially and adaxially glandular pubescent with short, sticky, capitate glands.
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 larger than adjacent pair, strongly inequilateral, proximal basiscopic pinnules greatly enlarged, appearing glandular-pubescent 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.
usually discontinuous, concentrated on apical and lateral lobes.
containing 32 spores.
containing 32 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 or straw-colored adaxially for most of length;
abaxial scales absent.
= 2n = 90, 120, apogamous.
Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes kaulfussii
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.)
The few populations of Cheilanthes kaulfussii known in the flora produce 32 spores per sporangium and reproduce apogamously (D. M. Benham 1982). Although the chromosome number of North American specimens has not been established with certainty, the specimens appear to be polyploids that may have been derived from 64-spored Mexican populations through autopolyploidy. The species is quite distinctive and should not be confused with any other member of the flora.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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