The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

trans-Pecos cliffbrake

pelléade glabre, simple cliff-brake, slender cliff-brake, smooth cliff-brake, smooth cliffbrake fern

Stems

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 reddish brown, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, thin, margins sinuous, entire to denticulate.

Leaves

monomorphic, clustered on stem, 10–50 cm;

croziers sparsely to densely villous.

monomorphic, clustered on stem, 2–40 cm;

croziers sparsely villous.

Petiole

black or dark purple, lustrous, rounded or slightly flattened adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.

brown, lustrous, rounded adaxially, occasionally with prominent articulation lines near base.

Blade

linear to ovate, deeply pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, 2.5–8 cm wide;

rachis black or purple throughout, straight, often flattened adaxially, glabrous or villous.

linear-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, 1–2-pinnate proximally, 1–8 cm wide;

rachis brown throughout, straight, rounded adaxially, nearly glabrous.

Ultimate segments

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.

oblong-lanceolate, 5–20 mm, leathery to herbaceous, glabrous except for occasional hairlike scales abaxially near midrib;

margins recurved on fertile segments, covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, erose-denticulate;

apex obtuse.

Pinnae

perpendicular to rachis or slightly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, ternate at base of leaf;

costae absent.

somewhat ascending, decurrent on rachis, usually with 3–7 lobes or ultimate segments;

costae when present straight, 1–50 mm, often shorter than ultimate segments.

Veins

of ultimate segments obscure.

of ultimate segments usually obscure.

Sporangia

long-stalked, containing 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.

long-stalked, containing 32 or 64 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.

Pellaea ternifolia

Pellaea glabella

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; Pacific Islands in Hawaii
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; AZ; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; ON; QC; SK; only in the flora
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Pellaea glabella includes four geographically and genetically isolated taxa treated here as subspecies. D. B. Lellinger (1985) recognized three species in this difficult group, but isozyme analyses (G. J. Gastony 1988) showed that one of these (P. suksdorfiana) is an autotetraploid derivative of the diploid known as P. occidentalis. As a result, Gastony recognized just two species: P. glabella (with two varieties) and P. occidentalis (with two subspecies). The few morphologic features that distinguish these taxa, however, are subtle and environmentally plastic, and the isozyme data indicate that they are less divergent genetically than any other pair of Pellaea species in North America. Therefore, a more conservative taxonomic treatment seems warranted.

Subspecies 4.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
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
1. Sporangia containing 32 spores; spores averaging 60-72 µm diam.
→ 2
1. Sporangia containing 64 spores; spores averaging 38-52 µm diam.
→ 3
2. Some ultimate segments (especially terminal segments) with hairlike scales abaxially near midrib; e North America (with outlying station in Texas panhandle).
subsp. glabella
2. Ultimate segments essentially glabrous; w North America.
subsp. simplex
3. Ultimate segments (especially terminal segments) with hairlike scales abaxially near midrib; Missouri.
subsp. missouriensis
3. Ultimate segments glabrous; w North America.
subsp. occidentalis
Source FNA vol. 2, p. 180. 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. intermedia, P. lyngholmii, P. mucronata, P. ovata, P. truncata, P. wrightiana
P. andromedifolia, P. atropurpurea, P. brachyptera, P. breweri, P. bridgesii, P. cordifolia, P. gastonyi, P. intermedia, P. lyngholmii, P. mucronata, P. ovata, P. ternifolia, P. truncata, P. wrightiana
Subordinate taxa
P. ternifolia subsp. arizonica, P. ternifolia subsp. ternifolia, P. ternifolia subsp. villosa
P. glabella subsp. glabella, P. glabella subsp. missouriensis, P. glabella subsp. occidentalis, P. glabella subsp. simplex
Synonyms Pteris ternifolia
Name authority (Cavanilles) Link: Fil. Spec. 59. (1841) Mettenius ex Kuhn: Linnaea 36: 87. (1869)
Web links