Pellaea mucronata
Pellaea cordifolia
bird's-foot fern, birdfoot cliffbrake
heartleaf cliffbrake
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.
compact, ascending, stout, 6–10 mm diam.;
scales uniformly orange-brown and thin, lanceolate to ovate, largest scales 0.3–1 mm wide, margins dentate.
monomorphic, clustered on stem, 7–45 cm;
croziers sparsely villous.
somewhat dimorphic, sterile leaves shorter than fertile leaves, clustered on stem, 15–50 cm;
croziers not conspicuously pubescent, densely scaly.
dark brown, lustrous, flattened to slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
straw-colored, tan, or gray, not lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
ovate-deltate, (2–)3-pinnate proximally, 4–18 cm wide;
rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous.
ovate-deltate, 2-pinnate proximally, 5–20 cm wide;
rachis tan throughout, straight to slightly flexuous, rounded or flattened adaxially, glabrous.
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.
round-cordate to deltate-cordate, 5–15 mm, herbaceous to leathery, glabrous or puberulent;
margins recurved on fertile segments, covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, crenulate;
apex rounded or retuse.
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.
perpendicular to rachis or slightly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 3–15 ultimate segments;
costae straight to slightly flexuous, 25–100 mm, longer than ultimate segments.
of ultimate segments obscure.
of ultimate segments usually evident.
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
= 58.
Pellaea mucronata
Pellaea cordifolia
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.)
The diploid Pellaea cordifolia has often been treated as a variety of the Central American and South American apogamous triploid, P. sagittata. The two taxa are distinguished by a number of qualitative morphologic features (A. R. Smith 1980), and it seems unlikely that they represent cytotypes of a single species. A. F. Tryon (1957) suggested that P. sagittata may have originated through hybridization between P. ovata and P. cordifolia (as P. sagittata var. cordata).
(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 |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
