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Notholaena californica californica

(California Cloak Fern)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

California Cloak Fern

Description

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Family Pteridaceae

Genera ca. 40, species ca. 1000 (13 genera, 90 sp: worldwide.

Considerable disagreement exists concerning the circumscription and proper name of this family . The taxa comprising the Pteridaceae in this treatment were assigned to the Sinopteridaceae and Pteridaceae by D. B . Lellinger (1985) and were included in five families by R. E. G. Pichi-Sermolli (1977). The broad concept followed here is similar (except for the exclusion of Ceratopteris ) to that espoused by R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982), who applied the name Pteridaceae to the group. Until very recently, the newer name Adiantaceae was more commonly used.

As represented in North America, Pteridaceae comprise three major evolutionary lines (the adiantoids, the pteroids, and the cheilanthoids). Characteristics holding the family together include abaxial (usually submarginal ) sori that lack indusia or are protected by a reflexed or revolute leaf margin , spores that are usually globose-tetrahedral and trilete, and chromosome base numbers of 30 or 29 (rarely 27). The xeric-adapted members of the family (particularly the cheilanthoids) have undergone extensive parallel and convergent evolution, and they have frustrated attempts to produce a natural generic classification based on macromorphologic characteristics alone. Although some workers have aggregated species into a few large genera (e.g. , J. T. Mickel 1979b), most tend to recognize smaller segregate genera based on a combination of morphologic, chromosomal, and biochemical data. The latter approach seems to provide a more useful, evolutionarily informative classification and is the one adopted here. Aspidotis and Notholaena are maintained here as distinct from Cheilanthes, and three recently described genera ( Argyrochosma, Astrolepis, and Pentagramma ) have been incorporated into the treatment. The reasons for these changes in generic circumscription are discussed under the individual genera.[1]

Genus Notholaena

Plants usually on rock. Stems short-creeping to compact , ascending to horizontal, usually branched; scales black or often bicolored with dark central stripe and lighter margins , linear-subulate to lanceolate; margins ciliate , denticulate , or entire. Leaves monomorphic , clustered, 4--35 cm. Petiole brown or black, usually rounded , flattened, or with single longitudinal groove adaxially, often bearing scales, hairs , or farinose glands , with single vascular bundle. Blade linear-lanceolate, ovate , deltate, or pentagonal , pinnate-pinnatifid to 4-pinnate, leathery, abaxially covered by yellowish or whitish farina (completely obscured by stellate scales in Notholaena aschenborniana ), adaxially often sparsely glandular , dull , not striate ; rachis straight. Ultimate segments of blade sessile to subsessile , often adnate to costae, narrowly elliptic to oblong-ovate or deltate, usually less than 4 mm wide; base rounded to truncate or cuneate; stalks (when present) usually lustrous and dark-colored; segment margins recurved to form confluent , poorly defined false indusia extending entire length of segment. Veins of ultimate segments free , obscure , pinnately branched and divergent distally. False indusia greenish, narrow, clearly marginal , occasionally concealing the sporangia. Sporangia confined to submarginal vein tips , containing 64, 32, or 16 spores, intermixed with farina-producing glands. Spores black to dark brown, globose or tetrahedral-globose, granulate , lacking prominent equatorial ridge . Gametophytes glandular-farinose (gametophytes of all other Pteridaceae genera lack farina). x = 30.

Species ca. 25: North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America.

As pointed out by R. M. Tryon (1956), J. T. Mickel (1979), and many others, Notholaena in the broad sense is poorly defined and difficult to distinguish from either Cheilanthes or Pellaea. North American taxa traditionally assigned to Notholaena represent at least four distinct evolutionary lineages (M. D. Windham 1986). In order to clarify species relationships and generic boundaries among cheilanthoid ferns, Notholaena is defined here in a very restricted sense. The pubescent , nonfarinose species (such as N. newberryi ) have been placed in Cheilanthes following R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982). The scaly , nonfarinose taxa of the N. sinuata complex have been transferred to Astrolepis for reasons discussed by D. M. Benham and M. D. Windham (1992). The glabrous and farinose species related to Pellaea (e.g. , N. jonesii and N. dealbata ) have been placed in Argyrochosma (M. D. Windham 1987). The species retained in Notholaena following this reorganization (i.e. , members of the farinose N. grayi -- N. standleyi alliance ) form a coherent, monophyletic group found only in the Western Hemisphere. The correct generic name for this group is in dispute because Notholaena has been lectotypified by several authors citing three different type species. The rules of priority favor the first typification (by J. Smith in 1875) based on N. trichomanoides (Linnaeus) Desvaux, which is definitely a member of the group here called Notholaena. R. E. G. Pichi-Sermolli (1989), however, urged acceptance of the typification by C. Christensen ([1905--]1906). Both the second and third lectotypifications of Notholaena were based on species unrelated to the North American taxa discussed here. If Smith's typification is overturned, the correct generic name for our species will be Chrysochosma (J. Smith) Kümmerle.[2]

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Notholaena californica D. C. Eat.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Notholaena

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 19 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

N. aliena (Foreign Cloak Fern) · N. aschenborniana (Scaled Cloak Fern) · N. atropurpurea (Purple-Stem Cliff-Brake) · N. bonariensis (Golden Cloak Fern) · N. californica (California Cloak Fern) · N. californica californica (California Cloak Fern) · N. californica leucophylla (California Cloak Fern) · N. californica subsp. leucophylla (California Cloak Fern) · N. copelandii (Copeland's Cloak Fern) · N. grayi (Gray's Cloak Fern) · N. grayi sonorensis (Gray's Cloak Fern) · N. grayi subsp. sonorensis (Sonoran Cloak Fern) · N. greggii (Gregg Cloak-Fern) · N. lemmonii (Lemmon's Cloak Fern) · N. nealleyi (Nealley's Cloak Fern) · N. neglecta (Maxon Cloak-Fern) · N. standleyi (Star Cloak Fern) · N. ternifolia (Trans-Pecos Cliffbrake) · N. trichomanoides (Rockslope Cloak Fern)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Michael D. Windham "Pteridaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Michael D. Windham "Notholaena". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/16/2012