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creeping cliff brake, intermediate cliffbrake

cliff brake, spiny cliff-brake

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 black, thick, margins brown, thin, erose-dentate.

Leaves

monomorphic, widely scattered along stem, 12–50 cm;

croziers pubescent and bearing a few scales.

somewhat dimorphic, sterile leaves shorter and less divided than fertile leaves, clustered on stems, 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.

ovate-deltate, usually 2-pinnate proximally, 4–18 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.

narrowly oblong, 4–10 mm, leathery, glabrous;

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

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.

perpendicular to rachis to slightly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 9–25 ultimate segments;

costae straight, 20–70 mm, much longer than fertile ultimate segments.

Veins

of ultimate segments obscure.

of ultimate segments obscure.

Sporangia

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

long-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.

n

= 2n = 87, 116, apogamous.

2n

= 58.

Pellaea intermedia

Pellaea truncata

Phenology Sporulating summer–fall. Sporulating late spring–fall.
Habitat Rocky slopes and ledges, on a variety of substrates, including limestone and granite Cliffs and rocky slopes, on various substrates but rarely observed on limestone
Elevation 300–2400 m (1000–7900 ft) 600–2500 m (2000–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Most manuals refer to Pellaea truncata as P. longimucronata, a name shown to be invalid by A. Cronquist et al. (1972+, vol. 1). Populations located near the range of P. mucronata in the Mojave Desert are often difficult to identify because of the subtlety of the characters involved and an apparent tendency to produce sterile (and possibly fertile) hybrids. Morphologically intermediate hybrids between P. truncata and P. wrightiana are common in regions where the ranges of the two species overlap, but these are easily identified by their 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
P. andromedifolia, P. atropurpurea, P. brachyptera, P. breweri, P. bridgesii, P. cordifolia, P. gastonyi, P. glabella, P. lyngholmii, P. mucronata, P. ovata, P. ternifolia, P. truncata, P. wrightiana
P. andromedifolia, 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. wrightiana
Synonyms P. intermedia var. pubescens P. longimucronata, P. wrightiana var. longimucronata
Name authority Mettenius ex Kuhn: Linnaea 38: 84. (1869) Goodding: Muhlenbergia 8: 94. (1912)
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