Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J. Sm. 1866

Introduction

Of the 23 nonfarinose species that Tryon (1956) placed in Notholaena, N. brachypus is the only one that apparently belongs there. It is a locally abundant species of shaded banks and rocky places (often in moister habitats than typical for most notholaenids) of Mexico and northern Central America, extending into Costa Rica.

Characteristics

Notholaena brachypus is a very distinct species. It lacks farina and is instead densely covered beneath with hairs and scales. The pinnate-pinnatifid leaf with a very short stalk distinguishes it from virtually all other cheilanthoids except for some of the linear-leaved ones (like Astrolepis and Cheilanthes bonariensis). From those taxa, N. brachypus is distinct in its lanceolate-ovate leaf shape (significantly wider at the middle than at either end), and by its combination of both hairs and scales beneath.

Other Names for Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J. Sm. 1866

• Cheilanthes brachypus (Kunze) Kunze 1850
• Cheilanthes squamosa var. brachypus Kunze 1844
• Vernacular Names: Waxless Cloakfern

References

Gastony, G. J., and D. R. Rollo. 1995. Phylogeny and generic circumscriptions of cheilanthoid ferns (Pteridaceae: Cheilanthoideae) inferred from rbcL nucleotide sequences. American Fern Journal 85:341-360.

Gastony, G. J., and D. R. Rollo. 1998. Cheilanthoid ferns (Pteridaceae: Cheilanthoideae) in the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico--A molecular phylogenetic reassessment of generic lines. Aliso 17:131-144.

Mickel, J. T., and A. R. Smith. 2004. The Pteridophytes of Mexico. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York.

Rothfels, C. J., M. D. Windham, A. L. Grusz, G. J. Gastony, and K. M. Pryer. 2008. Toward a monophyletic Notholaena (Pteridaceae): Resolving patterns of evolutionary convergence in xeric-adapted ferns Taxon 57:712-724.

Schuettpelz, E., H. Schneider, L. Huiet, M. D. Windham, and K. M. Pryer. 2007. A molecular phylogeny of the fern family Pteridaceae: assessing overall relationships and the affinities of previously unsampled genera. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44:1172-1185.

Tryon, R. M. 1956. A revision of the American species of Notholaena. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium 179:1-106.

Windham, M. D., L. Huiet, E. Schuettpelz, C. J. Rothfels, J. Beck, A. L. Grusz, G. Yatskievych, and K. M. Pryer. 2008. Using plastid and nuclear DNA sequences to redraw generic boundaries and demystify species complexes in cheilanthoid ferns. American Fern Journal (in review).

Windham, M. D., and G. Yatskievych. 2003. Chromosome studies of cheilanthoid ferns (Pteridaceae: Cheilanthoideae) from the western United States and Mexico. American Journal of Botany 90:1788-1800.

Yatskievych, G., and A. L. A. Arbeláez. 2008. A new species and three generic transfers in the fern genus Notholaena (Pteridaceae). Novon 18:120-124.