Pellaea intermedia |
Pellaea brachyptera |
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creeping cliff brake, intermediate cliffbrake |
Sierra cliff-brake, Sierran cliffbrake |
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Stems | 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. |
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. |
Leaves | monomorphic, widely scattered along stem, 12–50 cm; croziers pubescent and bearing a few scales. |
monomorphic, clustered on stem, 8–40 cm; croziers sparsely villous. |
Petiole | straw-colored, tan, or gray, not lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. |
dark brown, lustrous, flattened or slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. |
Blade | ovate to elongate-deltate, usually 2-pinnate proximally, 4–20 cm wide; rachis tan throughout, straight to slightly flexuous, rounded or flattened adaxially, ± pubescent. |
linear-oblong, 2-pinnate proximally, 1–4 cm wide; rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous. |
Ultimate segments | ovate to elliptic, 5–15 mm, leathery, glabrous or usually puberulent abaxially; margins recurved on fertile segments, usually covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, nearly entire; apex obtuse to slightly mucronate. |
linear, 5–20 mm, leathery, glabrous; margins on fertile segments strongly revolute, covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, crenate; apex mucronate. |
Pinnae | perpendicular to rachis or slightly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 7–21 ultimate segments; costae straight to slightly flexuous, 20–100 mm, longer than ultimate segments. |
strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 5–11 ultimate segments; costae straight, 5–20 mm, usually shorter than ultimate segments. |
Veins | of ultimate segments obscure. |
of ultimate segments obscure. |
Sporangia | short-stalked, containing 32 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands. |
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands. |
n | = 2n = 87, 116, apogamous. |
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Pellaea intermedia |
Pellaea brachyptera |
|
Phenology | Sporulating summer–fall. | Sporulating summer–fall. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes and ledges, on a variety of substrates, including limestone and granite | Cliffs and rocky slopes, usually on igneous substrates, occasionally on serpentine |
Elevation | 300–2400 m (1000–7900 ft) | 900–2700 m (3000–8900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico
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CA; OR; WA
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Discussion | Plants of Pellaea intermedia in the flora are apogamous triploids and tetraploids; a sexual diploid cytotype has been found near Saltillo, Mexico (A. F. Tryon 1968). Given the high degree of morphologic similarity among the three cytotypes, the North American polyploids probably were derived from the Mexican diploid through autopolyploidy. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2. |
Parent taxa | Pteridaceae > Pellaea | Pteridaceae > Pellaea |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. intermedia var. pubescens | Platyloma brachyptera |
Name authority | Mettenius ex Kuhn: Linnaea 38: 84. (1869) | (T. Moore) Baker: in Hooker & Baker, Syn. Fil. ed. 2 477. (1874) |
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