Pellaea brachyptera |
Pellaea bridgesii |
|
---|---|---|
Sierra cliff-brake, Sierran cliffbrake |
Bridges' cliff-brake |
|
Stems | compact, ascending, stout, 5–10 mm diam.; scales bicolored, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, centers dark brown to black, thick, margins brown, thin, dentate. |
compact, ascending, stout, 5–10 mm diam.; scales mostly weakly bicolored, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, centers dark brown, thin, margins lighter, thin, denticulate to entire. |
Leaves | monomorphic, clustered on stem, 8–40 cm; croziers sparsely villous. |
monomorphic, clustered on stem, 7–30 cm; croziers nearly glabrous. |
Petiole | dark brown, lustrous, flattened or slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. |
dark brown, lustrous, rounded adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. |
Blade | linear-oblong, 2-pinnate proximally, 1–4 cm wide; rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous. |
linear, 1-pinnate, 1.5–4 cm wide; rachis brown throughout, straight, rounded adaxially, glabrous. |
Ultimate segments | linear, 5–20 mm, leathery, glabrous; margins on fertile segments strongly revolute, covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, crenate; apex mucronate. |
broadly ovate to elliptic, 7–20 mm, leathery, glabrous; margins plane, not recurved, not covering abaxial surface, borders whitish, entire; apex obtuse to rounded. |
Pinnae | strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 5–11 ultimate segments; costae straight, 5–20 mm, usually shorter than ultimate segments. |
perpendicular to slightly ascending, usually not decurrent on rachis, simple and unlobed; costae absent. |
Veins | of ultimate segments obscure. |
of ultimate segments obscure. |
Sporangia | short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands. |
sessile or subsessile, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands. |
2n | = 58. |
|
Pellaea brachyptera |
Pellaea bridgesii |
|
Phenology | Sporulating summer–fall. | Sporulating summer–fall. |
Habitat | Cliffs and rocky slopes, usually on igneous substrates, occasionally on serpentine | Rocky slopes and cliffs, on granitic substrates |
Elevation | 900–2700 m (3000–8900 ft) | 1200–3600 m (3900–11800 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA
|
CA; ID; NV; OR
|
Discussion | The distinctive Pellaea brachyptera reportedly hybridizes with P. mucronata (A. F. Tryon 1957; D. B. Lellinger 1985); the hybrids are morphologically intermediate plants with malformed spores. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The morphology of Pellaea bridgesii is so distinctive that its sectional (and even generic) placement in Pellaea has long been a source of contention. W. H. Wagner Jr. et al. (1983) documented the existence of sterile diploid hybrids (called P. × glaciogena) between P. bridgesii and P. mucronata (see reticulogram), suggesting that P. bridgesii is most closely related to members of sect. Pellaea. In addition to the more obvious characters mentioned above, P. bridgesii is distinguished from other North American species (except P. ternifolia) by its anastomosing veins. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2. |
Parent taxa | Pteridaceae > Pellaea | Pteridaceae > Pellaea |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Platyloma brachyptera | |
Name authority | (T. Moore) Baker: in Hooker & Baker, Syn. Fil. ed. 2 477. (1874) | Hooker: Sp. Fil. 2: 238, plate 142b. (1858) |
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