Cheilanthes intertexta
Cheilanthes feei
coastal lip fern
slender lip fern
short-creeping, usually 3–7 mm diam.;
scales usually bicolored, with broad, well-defined, dark, central stripe and narrow, light brown margins, linear-lanceolate, straight to slightly contorted, strongly 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.
clustered, 4–25 cm;
vernation noncircinate.
clustered, 4–20 cm;
vernation circinate.
dark brown, rounded adaxially.
dark brown to black, rounded adaxially.
lanceolate to ovate-deltate, usually 3-pinnate at base, 1–4 cm wide;
rachis rounded adaxially, with scattered scales and sparse monomorphic pubescence.
linear-oblong to lanceolate, 3-pinnate at base, 1–3 cm wide;
rachis rounded adaxially, lacking scales, with dense monomorphic pubescence.
oblong to ovate, beadlike, the largest 1–3 mm, abaxially densely covered with branched hairs and small, ciliate scales, adaxially with scattered branched 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.
not articulate, dark color of stalk continuing into pinna base, basal pair not conspicuously larger than adjacent pair, usually equilateral, appearing glabrous to sparsely pubescent 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.
marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.25 mm wide.
marginal, weakly differentiated, 0.05–0.20 mm wide.
± continuous around segment margins.
± continuous around segment margins.
containing 64 spores.
containing 32 spores.
green adaxially for most of length;
abaxial scales multiseriate, ovate-lanceolate, deeply cordate at base, with overlapping basal lobes, conspicuous, the longest 0.4–1 mm wide, imbricate, often concealing ultimate segments, long-ciliate, cilia usually confined to proximal 1/2.
brown adaxially for most of length;
abaxial scales absent.
= 2n = 90, apogamous.
Cheilanthes intertexta
Cheilanthes feei
Preliminary isozyme analyses support D. B. Lellinger's (1985) suggestion that Cheilanthes intertexta is a fertile allotetraploid hybrid between C. gracillima and C. covillei. It is morphologically most similar to the latter parent (see comments under C. covillei), but it is occasionally confused with C. gracillima, with which it apparently hybridizes to form sterile intermediates that have been called C. gracillima var. aberrans M. E. Jones. Cheilanthes intertexta may also be confused with C. clevelandii, with which it is partially sympatric. In addition to the characters given in the key, C. intertexta is distinguished from closely related sexual species by having larger spores averaging more than 55 µm in diameter.
(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.)
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