Cheilanthes eatonii Baker

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Pteridaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cheilanthes eatonii Baker

  • Description

    Species Description - Rhizomes compact to short-creeping, horizontal, ca. 3 mm diam.; rhizome scales linear-lanceolate, bicolorous, with black center and tan margins, lustrous, 3–4 mm long, entire; fronds 15–38 cm long, clumped; stipes 1/4–1/3 the frond length, castaneous, terete, with abundant linear tan to white scales 1.5–2 mm long; blades narrowly lanceolate, 2–3-pinnate, 1.3–4 cm wide; rachises with loosely imbricate, appressed, linear scales mixed with hairs; pinnae 12–18 pairs, equilateral; segments oblong, obtuse; adaxial surfaces with abundant to sparse curly white to rusty hairs 0.5–1 mm long; abaxial surfaces and axes of pinnae and pinnules with lanceolate, entire scales and with a dense mat of curly hairs; laminar margins somewhat recurved, but not differentiated into false indusia; spores dark brown; n=2n=90, apogamous (Coah, USA).

  • Discussion

    Type. U.S.A. West Texas to El Paso, Wright 816 (US!; isotype NY!)

    Cheilanthes castanea Maxon, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 32: 111. 1919. Cheilanthes eatonii Baker in Hooker & Baker f. castanea (Maxon) Correll, Wrightia 1: 258. 1949. Type. Mexico. Coahuila: Sierra Madre, 13 leagues south of Saltillo, Palmer 1390 (US!; isotype NY!).

    Myriopteris rufa, Fe´e, Me´m Foug. 8: 77. 1857, non Cheilanthes rufa, D. Don 1825. Cheilanthes schaffneri T. Moore, Index Fil. 252. 1861, non Aleuritopteris schaffneri E. Fourn., 1880, nec Cheilanthes schaffneri (E. Fourn.) Domin, 1913. Cheilanthes cinnamomea D. C. Eaton, Proc. Amer. Acad. 18: 186. 1883. Type. Mexico. [Veracruz:] Volca´n de Orizaba, pre`s de San Andres Chalahicanmecha, 2600 m, 1855, Schaffner 83. Type not seen, but a specimen at P labelled “Myriopteris rufa Fe´e, Mexico, Orizaba, Schaffner” is Cheilanthes eatonii, and the type description could apply to that species.

    Cheilanthes eatonii is a highly variable species with apogamous triploid and tetraploid cytotypes. Cheilanthes castanea has sometimes been treated as a distinct species. The type of C. castanea differs in having the segments more evident because the hairs of the abaxial surface are not as long and there are fewer scales on the costules, but most specimens of C. eatonii s.l. are intermediate in laminar pubescence. Cheilanthes eatonii reportedly crosses with C. villosa (Lellinger, 1985) in western Texas and southern New Mexico. Pinna rachis scales of C. eatonii range from narrowly lanceolate to deltate-lanceolate, whereas C. tomentosa, which is often confused with C. eatonii, has very few scales on the rachillae. Cheilanthes pinkavae T. Reeves, ined., according toWindham and Rabe (FNA Ed. Comm., 1993), and Lellinger (1985) is the name applied by Reeves (1979) to plants intermediate between C. eatonii and C. villosa, but it has not been validly published.

  • Distribution

    Terrestrial or epipetric on limestone, less commonly basaltic slopes; 550–2850 m. Southwestern USA; Mexico; CR.

    Mexico North America| Costa Rica South America| United States of America North America|