Pellaea ternifolia
Pellaea cordifolia
trans-Pecos 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, 10–50 cm;
croziers sparsely to densely villous.
somewhat dimorphic, sterile leaves shorter than fertile leaves, clustered on stem, 15–50 cm;
croziers not conspicuously pubescent, densely scaly.
black or dark purple, lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
straw-colored, tan, or gray, not lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.
linear to ovate, deeply pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, 2.5–8 cm wide;
rachis black or purple throughout, straight, often flattened adaxially, glabrous or villous.
ovate-deltate, 2-pinnate proximally, 5–20 cm wide;
rachis tan throughout, straight to slightly flexuous, rounded or flattened adaxially, glabrous.
linear-oblong, 10–40 mm, leathery, glabrous to sparsely villous abaxially on midrib;
margins recurved on fertile segments, rarely covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, entire;
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 or slightly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, ternate at base of leaf;
costae absent.
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.
long-stalked, containing 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
short-stalked, containing 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.
= 58.
Pellaea ternifolia
Pellaea cordifolia
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Pellaea ternifolia is represented in the flora by three morphologically and chromosomally distinct taxa. These discrete genetic entities also show a tendency toward geographic isolation and are treated here as subspecies. Diploid populations referred to P. ternifolia subsp. ternifolia are scattered from Texas through Mexico to South America. The pubescent tetraploid (P. ternifolia subsp. villosa) follows the Sierra Madre Oriental from Puebla, Mexico, north to Texas; the glabrous tetraploid (P. ternifolia subsp. arizonica) occurs in Arizona, Texas, and northern Mexico. Isozyme and chromosome studies suggest that both tetraploids are segmental allopolyploids produced by hybridization between subsp. ternifolia and other (as yet unidentified) diploid elements within P. ternifolia.
(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. Rachises villous, especially in axils of pinnae; pinnae with hairs scattered along main veins abaxially. | subsp. villosa |
1. Rachises glabrous or with a few widely scattered hairs; pinnae completely glabrous. | → 2 |
2. Largest ultimate segments (excluding terminal pinnae) usually less than 18 mm; distal portion of petioles grooved or flattened adaxially; spores usually 39–45 µm diam. | subsp. ternifolia |
2. Largest ultimate segments (excluding terminal pinnae) usually more than 18 mm; distal portion of petioles rounded or slightly flattened adaxially; spores usually 46–53 µm diam. | subsp. arizonica |
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