Pellaea is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. The genus name is derived from the Greek word πελλος (pellos), meaning "dark," and refers to the brown stems. Many members of the genus are commonly known as cliffbrakes. They primarily grow in rocky habitats, including moist rocky canyons, slopes, and bluffs.
Pellaea andromedifolia, with the common names coffee cliffbrake and coffee fern, is a species of cliff brake fern in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. It is native to California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
Asplenium trichomanes, the maidenhair spleenwort, is a small fern in the spleenwort genus Asplenium. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide in a variety of rocky habitats. It is a variable fern with several subspecies.
Aspidotis densa is a species of fern in the Cheilanthoid subfamily, known by the common name Indian's dream or Serpentine fern or dense lace fern. It is native to the west coast of North America from British Columbia to California and east to the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming; there is a disjunct population on serpentine soils in Quebec.
Myriopteris gracillima, formerly known as Cheilanthes gracillima, is a species of lip fern known by the common name lace lip fern. It is native to western North America, where it grows in rocky habitat from British Columbia to California to Montana.
Amauropelta noveboracensis, the New York fern, is a perennial species of fern found throughout the eastern United States and Canada, from Louisiana to Newfoundland, but most concentrated within Appalachia and the Atlantic Northeast. New York ferns often forms spreading colonies within the forests they inhabit.
Pellaea glabella is a fern with the common name smooth cliffbrake. It was once regarded as a reduced form or variety of Pellaea atropurpurea. P. glabella is known to exist in two cryptic species, one diploid and one tetraploid. The diploid reproduces sexually, while the tetraploid is normally apogamous. It is now known that the tetraploid form of the species is one of the parents of the original hybrid P. × atropurpurea that became the apogamous species.
Polystichum lonchitis is a species of fern known by the common name northern hollyfern, or simply holly-fern. It is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to Alaska to Greenland and south into mountainous central North America. It has stiff, glossy green, erect fronds and grows in moist, shady, rocky mountain habitats.
Physematium scopulinum, common name Rocky Mountain woodsia, is a deciduous perennial fern in the family Woodsiaceae.
Adiantum viridimontanum, commonly known as Green Mountain maidenhair fern, is a fern found only in outcrops of serpentine rock in New England and Eastern Canada. The leaf blade is cut into finger-like segments, themselves once-divided, which are borne on the outer side of a curved, dark, glossy rachis. These finger-like segments are not individual leaves, but parts of a single compound leaf. The "fingers" may be drooping or erect, depending on whether the individual fern grows in shade or sunlight. Spores are borne under false indusia at the edge of the subdivisions of the leaf, a characteristic unique to the genus Adiantum.
Anchistea is a genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Blechnaceae. It has only one species, Anchistea virginica the Virginia chain fern, which has long creeping, scaly, underground stems or rhizomes giving rise to tall widely separated, deciduous, single leaves. In contrast, the leaves of Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, which can be mistaken for A. virginica, grow in a group from a crown. Also in contrast to O. cinnamomeum the leaves are monomorphic without distinct fertile fronds. The lower petiole or stipe is dark purple to black, shiny and swollen, the upper rachis is dull green. The leaf blade is green and lanceolate, composed of 12 to 23 paired, alternate pinnatifid pinnae. The pinnae are subdivided into 15 to 20 paired segments that are ovate to oblong. The lower rachis is naked for about half its length. The sori or spore-producing bodies are found on the underside of the pinnae and are long and form a double row which outlines the major veins of the pinnae. In common with all ferns, A. virginica exhibits a gametophyte stage in its life cycle and develops a haploid reproductive prothallus as an independent plant. The spores are produced in red-brown sori which line the spaces (areolae) between the costa and costules. Further photographs can be found at the Connecticut Botanical Society and Ontario Ferns websites.
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 Pennsylvania to Arizona and Georgia, and Mexico.
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 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 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 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.
Argyrochosma dealbata, the powdery false cloak fern, is a small fern endemic to the central and southern United States. It grows on calcareous rocks, such as limestone. Its leaves are highly divided, with leaf segments joined by shiny, chestnut-brown axes, and their undersides are coated with white powder, giving the fern its name. First described as a species in 1814, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".
Argyrochosma connectens is a small cheilanthoid fern endemic to Sichuan, China. It is the only member of its genus known from Asia. Relatively rare, it is found growing in the crevices of limestone rocks in hot, dry valleys. The species was long classified in the genus Pellaea, but after a phylogenetic study in 2015 was transferred to Argyrochosma.
Argyrochosma incana, the hairy false cloak fern, is a fern known from the southwestern United States through Mexico to Guatemala, and from a disjunct population in the Dominican Republic. It grows on rocky slopes and steep banks, often in forests. Like many of the false cloak ferns, it bears white powder on the underside of its leaves. First described as a species in 1825, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".
Argyrochosma formosa is a fern known from eastern and central Mexico and Guatemala. It grows on rocky slopes, particularly on limestone. Unlike many members of the genus, it lacks white powder on the underside of its leaves. First described as a species in 1842, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".
