All Topics  
Pellaea

 
Pellaea

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Pellaea
 
 
  Topics Pellaea Topic Home

Members of the genus Pellaea, sometimes called cliff brakes, are fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s primarily of rocky habitats, including moist rocky canyons, slopes, and bluffs. They are most abundant and diverse in the southwestern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 south into Andean
Andes

The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
 South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, central and southern Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, and eastern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 to New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
. They typically have creeping rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
s and pinnately
Pinnate

Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna for "feather"....
 to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichome
Trichome

Trichomes, from the Greek language meaning "growth of hair", are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function....
s on the blades.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Pellaea'
Start a new discussion about 'Pellaea'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Members of the genus Pellaea, sometimes called cliff brakes, are fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s primarily of rocky habitats, including moist rocky canyons, slopes, and bluffs. They are most abundant and diverse in the southwestern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 south into Andean
Andes

The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
 South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, central and southern Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, and eastern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 to New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
. They typically have creeping rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
s and pinnately
Pinnate

Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna for "feather"....
 to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichome
Trichome

Trichomes, from the Greek language meaning "growth of hair", are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function....
s on the blades. Like most members of Pteridaceae
Pteridaceae

Pteridaceae is a large family of ferns in the order Pteridales. Members of the family have creeping or erect rhizomes and are mostly terrestrial or epipetric ....
, they have marginal sori
Sorus

A sorus is a cluster of sporangium.In fungi and lichens, the sorus is surrounded by an external layer. In some red algae it may take the form of a depression into the thallus....
 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 (e.g., the African Pellaea viridis) 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
Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action....
 in phenotype
Phenotype

A phenotype is any observable characteristic or trait_ of an organism: such as its morphology , development, biochemical or physiological properties, or behavior....
s related to arid habitats rather than similarity due to common descent. These sections are:

  • Pellaea section Pellaea: includes most American members of the genus as well as a single African member (Pellaea rufa);
  • Pellaea section Ormopteris: includes three or four South American species in or near Brazil;
  • Pellaea section Platyloma: includes the Australian and New Zealand species;
  • Pellaea section Holcochlaena: includes the African species.


Members of the genus are not generally used for any commercial purpose, although several species (most notably Pellaea rotundifolia and Pellaea falcata of section Platyloma) are cultivated as indoor plants.

Selected Species
  • Pellaea section Pellaea:
    • Pellaea atropurpurea
    • Pellaea glabella
    • Pellaea wrightiana
    • Pellaea truncata
    • Pellaea ovata
  • Pellaea section Ormopteris:
    • Pellaea cymbiformis
  • Pellaea section Platyloma:
    • Pellaea rotundifolia
    • Pellaea falcata
    • Pellaea calidirupium
  • Pellaea section Holcochlaena:
    • Pellaea calomelanos
    • Pellaea dura
    • Pellaea viridis
    • Pellaea boivinii