| Myriopteris longipila | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Family: | Pteridaceae |
| Genus: | Myriopteris |
| Species: | M. longipila |
| Binomial name | |
| Myriopteris longipila (Baker) Grusz & Windham | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Myriopteris longipila, formerly known as Cheilanthes longipila, is a species of fern native to Mexico. It is characterized by a dense covering of long whitish hairs.
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The species was originally described as Cheilanthes longipila by John Gilbert Baker in 1891. His description was based on the specimen Charles Christopher Parry & Edward Palmer 989, collected by those two botanists in Central Mexico. He noted that it was similar to Cheilanthes viscosa , but bore long, soft hairs without glands (presumably the source of the epithet "longipila"), and had a leaf blade widest near the middle rather than at the base. [1]
In 2004, John Mickel described a new variety of the species, Cheilanthes longipila var. brevipila, based on Soto 1052, a specimen collected near Amatitlán, Guerrero . In this variety, the pinnae are mostly alternate rather than opposite, and the hairs are shorter and more variable in character than in typical material of the species. [2]
The development of molecular phylogenetic methods showed that the traditional circumscription of Cheilanthes is polyphyletic. Convergent evolution in arid environments is thought to be responsible for widespread homoplasy in the morphological characters traditionally used to classify it and the segregate genera that have sometimes been recognized. On the basis of molecular evidence, Amanda Grusz and Michael D. Windham revived the genus Myriopteris in 2013 for a group of species formerly placed in Cheilanthes. One of these was C. longipila, which thus became Myriopteris longipila. They recognized and transferred Mickel's variety as well, so that the species is now divided into two varieties, the typical M. longipila var. longipila and M. longipila var. brevipila. [3] In 2018, Maarten J. M. Christenhusz transferred the species to Hemionitis as H. gracillima, as part of a program to consolidate the cheilanthoid ferns into that genus. [4]
Further molecular studies in Myriopteris demonstrated the existence of three well-supported clades within the genus. M. longipila is nested in one of them, informally named the lanosa clade by Grusz et al., wherein M. longipila is sister to M. lanosa . [5] The lanosa clade is distinguished from all other species of the genus, except M. wrightii , by forming fiddleheads as leaves emerge. [6]
Myriopteris longipila is found in central Mexico, from Nuevo León in the north south to Oaxaca. It grows at an elevation from 1,450 to 1,900 meters (4,760 to 6,230 ft) (occasionally as low as 600 meters (2,000 ft)) in oak forests on dry, rocky slopes. [7] M. longipila var. brevipila is more limited in distribution, known only from Guerrero. It also grows on rocky slopes from 1,550 to 1,600 meters (5,090 to 5,250 ft) in altitude, in oak or tropical deciduous forests over volcanic soil. [8]
Myriopteris clevelandii, formerly known as Cheilanthes clevelandii, is a species of lip fern known by the common name Cleveland's lip fern. It is native to southern California and Baja California in Mexico. The leaf is divided into small, bead-like segments densely covered with scales beneath. In M. clevelandii, some of these scales are reduced to hairlike structures, which help distinguish it from the closely related M. covillei. It is usually found growing on exposed rock, particularly igneous rock.
Myriopteris gracilis, formerly known as Cheilanthes feei, is a species of lip fern known by the common name slender lip fern or Fee's lip fern.
Myriopteris cooperae, formerly Cheilanthes cooperae, is a species of lip fern known by the common name Mrs. Cooper's lip fern, or simply Cooper's lip fern.
Myriopteris intertexta, formerly Cheilanthes intertexta, is a species of lip fern known by the common name coastal lip fern. It is native to montane California and western Nevada, Oregon east of the Cascades, and with a disjunct population in central Utah. It grows in dry rocky habitats in sun, typically in rock cracks with little or no soil.
Myriopteris newberryi, formerly Cheilanthes newberryi, is a species of lip fern known by the common name Newberry's lip fern. It is native to southern California and Baja California.
Myriopteris tomentosa, formerly known as Cheilanthes tomentosa, is a perennial fern known as woolly lipfern. Woolly lipfern is native to the southern United States, from Virginia to Arizona and Georgia, and Mexico.
Myriopteris myriophylla, the Central American lace fern, is a species of lip fern. Despite its common name, this species is native as far south as Argentina. It is adapted to dry areas.
Myriopteris lanosa, the hairy lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of the eastern United States, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Its leaves and stem are sparsely covered in hairs, but lack scales, hence its common name. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows in shallow, dry, soil, often in rocky habitats.
Myriopteris, commonly known as the lip ferns, is a genus of cheilanthoid ferns. Like other cheilanthoids, they are ferns of dry habitats, reproducing both sexually and apogamously. Many species have leaves divided into a large number of small, bead-like segments, the probable inspiration for the generic name. Hairs and/or scales are often present on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf, and their presence and appearance are useful in distinguishing between species. The genus is most diverse in Mexico, but species are found from southwestern Canada south to southern Chile, and one species is endemic to southern Africa.
Myriopteris alabamensis, the Alabama lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of the United States and Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its leaves have a few hairs on upper and lower surfaces, or lack them entirely. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes as Cheilanthes alabamensis until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows in shade on limestone outcrops.
Myriopteris maxoniana is a species of cheilanthoid fern known only from one collection in Tamaulipas, Mexico. It closely resembles Myriopteris longipila and was not described as a distinct taxon until 2004.
Myriopteris aemula, the Texas lip fern or rival lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of Texas and Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its leaves have a few hairs on upper and lower surfaces, or lack them entirely. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes as Cheilanthes aemula until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows on limestone rock.
Myriopteris yatskievychiana is a small fern native to Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. It is known only from a single collection in the Mexican state of Sonora. While superficially similar to golden lip fern, a widespread species in Mexico, differences in its coating of hairs and its small size make it distinctive. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes.
Myriopteris allosuroides is a moderately-sized fern of Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its rachides are grooved on the upper surface and largely free of hairs or scales. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genera Cheilanthes or Pellaea until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows on dry, rocky slopes over acidic, particularly basaltic, rock.
Myriopteris aurea, the golden lip fern or Bonaire lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern native to the Americas, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its leaf is only modestly dissected into lobed leaflets (pinnae), which are hairy both above and below. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, until 2013 it was classified in the genus Cheilanthes as Cheilanthes bonariensis, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows on dry, rocky slopes, and ranges from Mexico, where it is common and widespread, and the southwestern United States south and east through Central and South America as far as Chile and Argentina.
Argyrochosma microphylla, the small-leaf false cloak fern, is a species of fern native to New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico. It grows on limestone rocks and cliffs, and has finely-divided leaves with small leaf segments, often folded in half when dry, which lack the white powder present on the leaf underside of many related species. First described as a species in 1869, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".
Myriopteris rufa, commonly known as Eaton's lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of Mexico and the southwestern United States, with outlying populations in Costa Rica and the Appalachian Mountains. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes, as Cheilanthes eatonii, until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows in rocky habitats, most frequently on limestone but also sometimes on basalt or shale.
Myriopteris rawsonii, formerly known as Cheilanthes rawsonii, is a perennial fern native to Namaqualand in Southern Africa. Like many other cheilanthoid ferns, it is adapted to dry conditions, bearing a thick layer of pale hairs on the underside of its pinnate-pinnatifid leaves. It is the only African representative of its clade of cheilanthoids, the otherwise American genus Myriopteris. It spends much of the year in a dried-out, dormant state, rehydrating and putting out new growth during winter rains. Its name honors the botanist and civil servant Sir Rawson W. Rawson.
Myriopteris lindheimeri, formerly known as Cheilanthes lindheimeri, is a species of fern in the Pteridaceae family with the common name fairy swords.
Myriopteris chipinquensis is a fern endemic to Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was classified in the genus Cheilanthes until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It grows in oak-pine forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental, often with the very similar and closely related Myriopteris tomentosa.