Flora of North America species comparison

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Woodsia obtusa subsp. occidentalis

Woodsia obtusa subsp. obtusa
Photo is of parent taxon

western cliff fern
Photo is of parent taxon

bluntlobe cliff fern
Stems

short- to long-creeping, individual branches usually 3–5 mm diam.

compact to short-creeping, individual branches usually 5–10 mm diam.
Blade

finely cut, 2-pinnate-pinnatifid.

coarsely cut and evidently 2-pinnate.
Spores

averaging 35–42 µm. 2n = 76.

averaging 42–47 µm. 2n = 152.
Proximal

pinnules of lower pinnae usually deeply lobed or pinnatifid.

pinnules of lower pinnae usually shallowly lobed or merely dentate.

Woodsia obtusa subsp. occidentalis

Woodsia obtusa subsp. obtusa
Phenology Sporulating summer–fall. Sporulating summer–fall.
Habitat Cliffs and rocky slopes (rarely terrestrial), found on a variety of substrates but mostly sandstone and granite Cliffs and rocky slopes (rarely terrestrial), found on a variety of substrates including both granite and limestone
Elevation 200–500 m (700–1600 ft) 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Woodsia obtusa subsp. occidentalis hybridizes with subsp. obtusa sporadically throughout the region of sympatry; the hybrids are sterile triploids with malformed spores.

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

D. F. M. Brown (1964) hypothesized that tetraploid Woodsia obtusa might be an autopolyploid derived from W. oregana. Recent isozyme and spore ornamentation studies indicate, however, that these species are not closely related, and the discovery of a diploid cytotype of W. obtusa suggests a different (albeit autopolyploid) origin for this taxon (M. D. Windham 1993). Tetraploid subsp. obtusa crosses with diploid subsp. occidentalis; the resulting triploids are sterile and have malformed spores. It also hybridizes with W. oregana subsp. cathcartiana to form the sterile tetraploid hybrid known as W. × kansana Brooks.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Dryopteridaceae > Woodsia > Woodsia obtusa Dryopteridaceae > Woodsia > Woodsia obtusa
Sibling taxa
W. obtusa subsp. obtusa
W. obtusa subsp. occidentalis
Name authority Windham: Contr. Univ. Michigan Herb. 19: 56. (1993) (Swartz) Torrey
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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