Pellaea brachyptera — Details

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

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Physical Description

Morphology

Comments

The distinctive Pellaea brachyptera reportedly hybridizes with P . mucronata (A. F. Tryon 1957; D. B. Lellinger 1985); the hybrids are morphologically intermediate plants with malformed spores.

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Description

Stems compact, ascending, stout, 5--10 mm diam.; scales bicolored, linear-subulate, 0.1--0.3 mm wide, centers dark brown to black, thick, margins brown, thin, dentate. Leaves monomorphic, clustered on stem, 8--40 cm; croziers sparsely villous. Petiole dark brown, lustrous, flattened or slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. Blade linear-oblong, 2-pinnate proximally, 1--4 cm wide; rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous. Pinnae strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 5--11 ultimate segments; costae straight, 5--20 mm, usually shorter than ultimate segments. Ultimate segments linear, 5--20 mm, leathery, glabrous; margins on fertile segments strongly revolute, covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, crenate; apex mucronate. Veins of ultimate segments obscure. Sporangia short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.

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Diagnostic Description

Synonym

Platyloma brachyptera T. Moore, Gard. Chron., 141. 1873

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Ecology

Habitat

Habitat & Distribution

Sporulating summer--fall. Cliffs and rocky slopes, usually on igneous substrates, occasionally on serpentine; 900--2700 m; Calif., Oreg., Wash.

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Conservation

Conservation Status

National NatureServe Conservation Status

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

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NatureServe Conservation Status

Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure

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Wikipedia

Pellaea brachyptera

Pellaea brachyptera is a species of fern known by the common name Sierra cliffbrake. It is native to the coastal and inland mountains of northern California and Oregon, and a disjunct population was discovered in Chelan County, Washington, in 1986.^[1]^[2]

Description

The fern grows in rocky cliffs and slopes of igneous origin.

Pellaea brachyptera grows from a branching reddish-brown rhizome several centimeters long. Each gray-green leaf is an elongated, narrow branch up to 40 centimeters long. It is composed of a straight dark brown rachis lined with leaflets which are each divided into pointed, leathery, almost needlelike linear segments. The edges of each segment are rolled under. The sporangia are located under the edges.

References

^ Alverson, E. R. and J. Arnett. (1986). Pellaea brachyptera new to Washington. American Fern Journal 76:1 25-6.
^ Pellaea brachyptera. Washington State Dept. Natural Resources.

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