Pellaea | |
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Pellaea andromedifolia | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Division: | Polypodiophyta |
Class: | Polypodiopsida |
Order: | Polypodiales |
Family: | Pteridaceae |
Subfamily: | Cheilanthoideae |
Genus: | Pellaea Link [1] |
Type species | |
Pellaea atropurpurea (L.) Link | |
Species | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Pellaea is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. [3] The genus name is derived from the Greek word πελλος (pellos), meaning "dark," and refers to the brown stems. [4] Many members of the genus are commonly known as cliffbrakes. [5] They primarily grow in rocky habitats, including moist rocky canyons, slopes, and bluffs. [4]
Ferns in this genus are most abundant and diverse in the southwestern United States south into Andean South America, central and southern Africa, and eastern Australia to New Zealand.
These ferns typically have creeping rhizomes and pinnately to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichomes on the blades. Like most members of Pteridaceae, they have marginal sori protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed leaf margin.
The distinction of Pellaea from the typically hairier or scalier Cheilanthes has proven difficult, with some members being of uncertain affinity, listed by different authors in both genera. Furthermore, Pellaea contains a number of sections that may warrant generic status since they appear to represent convergence in phenotypes related to arid habitats rather than similarity due to common descent. These sections are:
The genus Ormopteris , long combined with Pellaea as a section, was recognized as a separate genus again in 2015.
Most members of the genus are not generally used for any commercial purpose, although several species (most notably P. rotundifolia and P. falcata of section Platyloma) are cultivated as indoor plants.
As of December 2021 [update] , the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World recognized the following species: [2]
Phegopteris is a genus of ferns in the family Thelypteridaceae, subfamily Phegopteridoideae, in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. They are known collectively as the beech ferns. Species are native to Asia, North America and Europe.
Pteris (brake) is a genus of about 300 species of ferns in the subfamily Pteridoideae of the family Pteridaceae. They are native to tropical and subtropical regions, southward to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, north to Japan and North America. 78 species are found in China. Some species of Pteris have considerable economic and ecological value, such as Pteris multifida, Pteris ensiformis, Pteris vittata can be used for ornamental purposes; as a hyperaccumulator, Pteris multifida and Pteris vittata can be used to control soil pollution.
Cheilanthes, commonly known as lip ferns, is a genus of about 180 species of rock-dwelling ferns with a cosmopolitan distribution in warm, dry, rocky regions, often growing in small crevices high up on cliffs. Most are small, sturdy and evergreen. The leaves, often densely covered in trichomes, spring directly from the rootstocks. Many of them are desert ferns, curling up during dry times and reviving with the coming of moisture. At the ends of veins sporangia, or spore-bearing structures, are protected by leaf margins, which curl over them.
Cyathea is a genus of tree ferns, the type genus of the fern order Cyatheales.
Notholaena, cloak fern, is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. Ferns of this genus are mostly epipetric or occurring in coarse, gravelly soils, and are most abundant and diverse in the mountain ranges of warm arid or semiarid regions. They typically have a creeping or erect rhizome and leaves that are pinnatifid to pinnate-pinnatifid with marginal sori protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed margin of the leaf. Members of Notholaena also have a coating of whitish or yellowish farina on the surfaces of the leaves. The farina is often limited to the abaxial (lower) leaf surface, but may occur on the adaxial (upper) leaf surface as well. Members of the related Pentagramma genus have a similar lower leaf-surface farina.
Pleopeltis is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus widely distributed in tropical regions of the world, and also north into temperate regions in eastern North America and eastern Asia. Several species are known by the common name scaly polypody and resurrection fern.
Hymenophyllum is a genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae. Its name means "membranous leaf", referring to the very thin translucent tissue of the fronds, which gives rise to the common name filmy fern for this and other thin-leaved ferns. The leaves are generally only one cell thick and lack stomata, making them vulnerable to desiccation. Consequently, they are found only in very humid areas, such as in moist forests and among sheltered rocks. They are small and easy to overlook.
Tectaria is a genus of fern in the family Tectariaceae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. Halberd fern is a common name for species in this genus.
Argyrochosma is a genus of ferns known commonly as false cloak ferns. The genus is included in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. Species now in this genus were previously treated as members of related genera Notholaena or Pellaea but were segregated into their own genus in 1987. These ferns, of which there are about 20 species, are mostly native to the Americas, from North to South and including the Caribbean, while one species, A. connectens, is known from Sichuan, China. They are commonly found growing in cracks between rocks. Their leaves are generally shorter than 40 cm (16 in) and have rounded bluish or grayish green segments. Often the lower surface of the segments is coated in a white dust, and the sporangia contain brown spores.
Arthropteris is a small genus of ferns in family Tectariaceae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. It was previously placed in the families Oleandraceae or Davalliaceae. The genus is native to Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa. Around 12 to 21 species are considered part of this genus. The name Arthropteris is from the Greek, meaning "jointed fern", referring to the joint at the base of the petiole.
Christella is a genus of around 70-80 species of ferns in the subfamily Thelypteridoideae of the family Thelypteridaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. Other sources sink Christella into a very broadly defined genus Thelypteris. The genus was named after Konrad H. Christ, a Swiss botanist. The distribution of these plants is mostly in the tropics and sub tropical areas. An Australian example is C. dentata.
Didymoglossum is a tropical genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae. It comprises more than 30 epilithic or low-epiphytic species under two subgenera. The genus is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not by some other sources which sink it into a broadly defined Trichomanes.
Cheilanthoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the fern family Pteridaceae. The subfamily is thought to be monophyletic, but some of the genera into which it has been divided are not, and the taxonomic status of many of its genera and species remains uncertain, with radically different approaches in use as of December 2019.
Doryopteris is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the family Pteridaceae.
Adiantopsis is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the family Pteridaceae.
Pyrrosia is a genus of about 100 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Like other species in Polypodiaceae, the species of Pyrrosia are generally epiphytic on trees or rocks, a few species are terrestrial. The Latin name of Pyrrosia comes from the Greek pyrrhos (red), which refers to its leaves that are red due to the sporangia.
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.
Polypodium is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest species diversity in the tropics. The name is derived from Ancient Greek poly (πολύ) "many" + podion (πόδιον) "little foot", on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. They are commonly called polypodies or rockcap ferns, but for many species unique vernacular names exist.
Oeosporangium is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the family Pteridaceae. The genus has not always been recognized. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 it was included in Allosorus. It was accepted by the Checklist of the Ferns and Lycophytes of the World as of January 2020. As circumscribed there, the genus is native to the Old World.