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Brewer's cliff-brake, Brewer's cliffbrake fern

coffee cliffbrake, coffee fern

Stems

compact, ascending, stout, 5–10 mm diam.;

scales uniformly reddish brown, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, thin, margins sinuous, nearly entire.

creeping, horizontal, slender, 2–4 mm diam.;

scales mostly bicolored, narrowly lanceolate, largest scales 0.3–0.8 mm wide, centers black, thick, margins brown, thin, irregularly dentate.

Leaves

monomorphic, clustered on stem, 2.5–20 cm;

croziers sparsely villous.

monomorphic, scattered along stem, 10–60 cm;

croziers not conspicuously pubescent, densely scaly.

Petiole

brown, lustrous, rounded adaxially, with prominent articulation lines near base.

straw-colored, tan, or gray, not lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.

Blade

linear-oblong, pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, 1–4 cm wide;

rachis brown proximally, green distally, straight, rounded adaxially, glabrous to sparsely villous.

elongate-deltate, usually 3-pinnate proximally, 3–20 cm wide;

rachis tan throughout, straight to slightly flexuous, rounded or flattened adaxially, glabrous or pubescent.

Ultimate segments

lanceolate-deltate, 5–25 mm, herbaceous, glabrous;

margins recurved on fertile segments, covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, erose-denticulate;

apex obtuse or rounded.

elliptic to ovate, 3–15 mm, somewhat herbaceous, glabrous to sparsely pubescent abaxially;

margins recurved on fertile segments, usually covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, entire;

apex retuse to rounded.

Pinnae

ascending or perpendicular to rachis, decurrent on rachis, deeply 2-lobed (mitten-shaped) near base of leaf;

costae absent.

ascending or perpendicular to rachis, not decurrent on rachis, with 8–50 ultimate segments;

costae usually straight, 15–140 mm, longer than ultimate segments.

Veins

of ultimate segments evident.

of ultimate segments evident.

Sporangia

sessile or subsessile, containing 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.

short-stalked, containing 64 or 32 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.

2n

= 58.

= 58;

n = 2n = 87, 116, apogamous.

Pellaea breweri

Pellaea andromedifolia

Phenology Sporulating summer–fall. Sporulating late spring–summer.
Habitat Cliffs and rocky slopes, on a variety of substrates including granite and limestone Rocky slopes and ledges, usually on igneous substrates
Elevation 1600–3800 m (5200–12500 ft) 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; Mexico in Baja California
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Discussion

Pellaea breweri is distinguished from other North American taxa (except for some populations of P. glabella) by the presence of prominent articulation lines near the base of the petiole. The leaves are easily detached, and many herbarium specimens consist of separate leaves and stems, the latter covered with petiole bases of approximately equal length.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Pellaea andromedifolia comprises three cytotypes: a sexually reproducing diploid, an apogamous triploid, and an apogamous tetraploid. Isozyme studies by G. J. Gastony and L. D. Gottlieb (1985) suggested that the apogamous triploid is an autopolyploid derived from sexual diploid populations. The apogamous tetraploid apparently resulted from hybridization between diploid and triploid individuals. These cytotypes have not been formally recognized as subspecies because their ranges seem to overlap extensively and because the ploidy level of the type collection of P. andromedifolia is not known.

(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
P. andromedifolia, P. atropurpurea, P. brachyptera, P. bridgesii, P. cordifolia, P. gastonyi, P. glabella, P. intermedia, P. lyngholmii, P. mucronata, P. ovata, P. ternifolia, P. truncata, P. wrightiana
P. atropurpurea, P. brachyptera, P. breweri, P. bridgesii, P. cordifolia, P. gastonyi, P. glabella, P. intermedia, P. lyngholmii, P. mucronata, P. ovata, P. ternifolia, P. truncata, P. wrightiana
Synonyms Pteris andromedifolia, P. andromedifolia var. pubescens
Name authority D. C. Eaton: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 555. (1865) (Kaulfuss) Fée
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