Cheilanthes feei T.Moore

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Pteridaceae

• Scientific Name

  Cheilanthes feei T.Moore

• Description

  Species Description - Rhizome short, multicipital, its scales linear-subulate, 3–6 × 0.5 mm, orange-brown with black midstripe; lvs tufted, 5–20 cm, the petiole to 10 cm, equaling or shorter than the blade, dark purplish brown, long-hairy, not scaly; blade linear-oblong, 3–13 × 1.5–4 cm, 3–4 times pinnate, loosely and copiously villous-tomentose (usually tawny or rusty) beneath; pinnae 6–12 pairs, spaced out below, petiolulate, ovate to ovate-oblong; pinnules 3–6 pairs, their ultimate segments 2–3 pairs, commonly only 1–1.5 mm, the margins loosely inrolled but unmodified and not covering the mature sporangia, which often spread out over the lower surface; 2n=87 (triploid). Calcareous bluffs and rocks; Wis. and Ill. to Alta. and B.C., s. to Ark., Tex., and Ariz.; disjunct in Va.

• Common Names

  slender lip-fern