Pellaea intermedia
Pellaea mucronata
creeping cliff brake, intermediate cliffbrake
bird's-foot fern, birdfoot cliffbrake
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 black, thick, margins brown, thin, erose-dentate.
monomorphic, widely scattered along stem, 12–50 cm;
croziers pubescent and bearing a few scales.
monomorphic, clustered on stem, 7–45 cm;
croziers sparsely villous.
straw-colored, tan, or gray, not lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
dark brown, lustrous, flattened to slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
ovate to elongate-deltate, usually 2-pinnate proximally, 4–20 cm wide;
rachis tan throughout, straight to slightly flexuous, rounded or flattened adaxially, ± pubescent.
ovate-deltate, (2–)3-pinnate proximally, 4–18 cm wide;
rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous.
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.
narrowly oblong, 2–12 mm, leathery, glabrous;
margins recurved to strongly revolute on fertile segments, usually covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, usually dentate;
apex mucronate.
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.
perpendicular to rachis to strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 9–40 ultimate segments;
costae straight, 10–70 mm, much longer than ultimate segments.
of ultimate segments obscure.
of ultimate segments obscure.
short-stalked, containing 32 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.
= 2n = 87, 116, apogamous.
Pellaea intermedia
Pellaea mucronata
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.)
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Pellaea mucronata encompasses two morphologic extremes that tend to occupy different habitats and are treated here as subspecies. The typical 3-pinnate form (P. mucronata subsp. mucronata) is scattered throughout California and southern Nevada, usually below 1800 m elevation. The 2-pinnate form with ascending, overlapping pinnae (P. mucronata subsp. californica) is apparently confined to the Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges of California at elevations greater than 1800 m. The taxonomic status of these entities remains in dispute, and they are often treated as mere ecological forms. W. H. Wagner Jr. et al. (1983) indicated that natural hybrids formed between P. bridgesii and these two taxa are morphologically distinct, suggesting that the differences observed between the subspecies of P. mucronata are genetically based. In addition to P. bridgesii, subsp. mucronata apparently hybridizes with both P. truncata and P. brachyptera (see comments under those species).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Blades 3-pinnate proximally; pinnae usually ± perpendicular to rachis, not overlapping; plants usually found below 1800 m. | subsp. mucronata |
1. Blades usually 2-pinnate proximally; pinnae ascending and overlapping, especially in distal portion of leaf; plants usually found above 1800 m. | subsp. californica |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
