Although some specimens of Cheilanthes clevelandii can be difficult to distinguish from C . covillei and C . intertexta (see comments under C . covillei ), the species is restricted to the coastal mountains of California and Baja California, and it rarely overlaps the ranges of these closely related species. In the region where C. clevelandii is sympatric with C. intertexta , the smaller spores of the former species (averaging less that 55 µm in diameter) are helpful in identification. T. Reeves (1979) tentatively identified two varieties of C . clevelandii , but formal recognition of these taxa must await further study.