Pellaea ternifolia Fée

  • Authority

    Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.

  • Family

    Pteridaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Pellaea ternifolia Fée

  • Description

    Species Description - Rhizomes short, stout, compact; rhizome scales 5–6 x 0.3–0.5 mm, bicolorous, linear, central portion dark reddish brown to black, margins thin, whitish tan, erose; fronds to 50 cm long, erect, monomorphic; stipes 1/4–1/3 the frond length, atropurpureous to black, lustrous, glabrous, terete to plane or grooved adaxially; blades linear, bipinnate almost to tips; pinnae ternately divided, gray-green, segments linear to lanceolate, 16 x 1–2 mm, entire, mucronate, each with 1 mm colorless tip, glabrous, coriaceous; margins reflexed, scarious, indusia 0.1 mm wide with papillate margins; spores tan.

  • Discussion

    Pteris ternifolia Cav., Descr. Pl. 266. 1801. Lectotype (chosen by C. Chr., Dansk Bot. Ark. 9(3): 22. 1937). Peru. Guarimaya valley near Guamantanga, Ne´e s.n. (MA; isotype F). For additional synonymy, see A. Tryon (1957).

    Terrestrial and epipetric on rocky slopes and ledges in dry forests; 200–4000 m. Sw USA; Mexico; Central America; w South America; Hawaii. Windham (1993) reported that subsp. arizonica occurs in Arizona, Texas, Chihuahua, and Sonora, without mentioning the status of P. ternifolia in the rest of Mexico. Specimens from Chihuahua and Sonora do indeed match the larger pinna size and ungrooved rachises of subsp. arizonica. In the rest of the country, pinna dimensions generally, but not always, agree with those of subsp. ternifolia, but there is every transition in the rachises from having distinct grooves to being flattened or terete. There is an especially large specimen from Guerrero, but it is not known whether it is abnormal subsp. ternifolia, disjunct subsp. arizonica, or perhaps an unnamed polyploid taxon.

  • Distribution

    Terrestrial and epipetric on rocky slopes and ledges in dry forests; 200–4000 m. Sw USA; Mexico; Central America; w South America; Hawaii. Windham (1993) reported that subsp. arizonica occurs in Arizona, Texas, Chihuahua, and Sonora, without mentioning the status of P. ternifolia in the rest of Mexico.

    Mexico North America| Chihuahua Mexico North America| Sonora Mexico North America| Texas United States of America North America| Arizona United States of America North America| Hawaii United States of America North America| South America| Central America| United States of America North America|