Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes pringlei
Eaton's lip fern
Pringle'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 uniformly brown or with poorly defined, dark, central stripe, linear-lanceolate, straight to slightly contorted, loosely appressed, usually persistent.
clustered, 6–35 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
clustered to somewhat scattered, 4–15 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
dark brown, rounded adaxially.
dark brown, 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.
ovate-deltate, 3-pinnate-pinnatifid at base, 1.5–5 cm wide;
rachis grooved adaxially, with scattered, lanceolate scales, not pubescent.
oval to round, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially densely tomentose, adaxially pubescent with fine, unbranched hairs or glabrescent.
spatulate, not especially beadlike, the largest usually 2–3 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 conspicuously larger than adjacent pair, inequilateral, basiscopic pinnules enlarged, 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.
discontinuous, confined to apical or lateral lobes.
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, truncate or subcordate at base, without overlapping basal lobes, conspicuous, the largest 0.4–0.8 mm wide, loosely imbricate, not concealing ultimate segments, erose, not ciliate.
= 2n = 90, 120, apogamous.
= 60.
Cheilanthes eatonii
Cheilanthes pringlei
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 pringlei is often confused with young, sterile plants of C. fendleri, but it is easily distinguished from the latter by having rachises that are grooved adaxially. This species appears to be restricted to the Sonoran Desert; records from Gila and Cochise counties, Arizona, and southern New Mexico are based on misidentifications.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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