Flora of North America species comparison

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Notholaena standleyi

star cloak fern
Stem

scales strongly bicolored, margins brown, broad and well defined, thin, entire.
Leaves

5–30 cm.
Petiole

brown, equal to or somewhat longer than blade, rounded adaxially, glabrous except for a few scales at base.
Blade

broadly pentagonal, deeply pinnatifid but not fully pinnate above base (distal pinnae connected by narrow wing of green tissue), 1–2 times longer than wide, abaxially with conspicuous yellowish farina, scales absent, adaxially glabrous;

basal pinnae much larger than adjacent pair, strongly inequilateral, proximal basiscopic pinnules greatly enlarged.
Ultimate segments

sessile, broadly adnate to costae;

segment margins slightly recurved, rarely concealing sporangia.
Sporangia

containing 32 or 16 spores.
2n

= 60.

Notholaena standleyi
Phenology Sporulating late spring–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes and cliffs, on a variety of substrates including granite and limestone
Elevation 300–2100 m (1000–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; OK; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The low numbers of spores per sporangium in Notholaena standleyi are apparently not associated with apogamy because all plants thus far analyzed are sexual diploids (M. D. Windham, unpublished data). D. S. Siegler and E. Wollenweber (1983) identified three chemotypes in this species correlated with substrate specificity and subtle variations in farina color. These three "races" occupy different portions of the geographic range, and further investigation may indicate that they deserve formal taxonomic recognition. A report of Notholaena standleyi from Nevada (D. B. Lellinger 1985) must be considered suspect because it is disjunct, and the closest populations in Arizona represent a different chemotype.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pteridaceae > Notholaena
Sibling taxa
N. aliena, N. aschenborniana, N. californica, N. copelandii, N. grayi, N. greggii, N. lemmonii, N. nealleyi, N. neglecta
Synonyms Cheilanthes standleyi, Chrysochosma hookeri, N. hookeri
Name authority Maxon: Amer. Fern J. 5: 1. (1915)
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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