Pellaea mucronata
Pellaea lyngholmii
bird's-foot fern, birdfoot cliffbrake
lyngholm's 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, 5–10 mm diam.;
scales uniformly brown or tan, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, thin, margins entire to denticulate.
monomorphic, clustered on stem, 7–45 cm;
croziers sparsely villous.
somewhat dimorphic, sterile leaves shorter and less divided than fertile leaves, clustered on stem, 10–30 cm;
croziers villous.
dark brown, lustrous, flattened to slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
dark brown to reddish purple, lustrous, rounded adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
ovate-deltate, (2–)3-pinnate proximally, 4–18 cm wide;
rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous.
elongate-deltate to ovate, 2-pinnate proximally, 5–15 cm wide;
rachis brown or reddish purple throughout, straight, often slightly flattened adaxially, sparsely villous with long, divergent hairs.
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.
oblong-lanceolate, 7–25 mm, leathery, sparsely villous abaxially near midrib;
margins usually recurved on fertile segments, covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, crenulate;
apex slightly mucronate.
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 7–15 ultimate segments;
costae straight, 25–80 mm, usually longer than ultimate segments.
of ultimate segments obscure.
of ultimate segments obscure.
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.
long-stalked, containing 32 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
Pellaea mucronata
Pellaea lyngholmii
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.)
Pellaea lyngholmii is an apogamous tetraploid that arose through hybridization between P. atropurpurea and P. truncata (M. D. Windham 1993). It is most often confused with P. atropurpurea, from which P. lyngholmii differs in having sparsely villous rachises, smaller and more numerous ultimate segments, and spores usually more than 62 µm in diameter.
(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
