Smooth cliff brake
Pellaea glabella Mett.
Images
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Morphology
- Culm
- Ascending to lax, usually branched, stout; scales reddish-brown, linear-subulate, to .24 inch long, thin.
- Leaves
- Erect, numerous; petioles reddish brown to dark brown, mostly glabrous, shiny; blades 1-2 times compound, linear-oblong to linear-lanceolate in outline; pinnae bluish-green, leathery, pinnate or bipinnate, in up to 10 pairs, at acute angles to rachis; basal pinnae with 3-7 segments, sessile or short petiolate, upper pinnae simple, sessile, entire; pinnules narrowly lanceolate to oblong lanceolate, .1 to 1 inch long, .08 to .3 inch wide, mostly glabrous, often with 1-2 lobes at base, margins recurved, apex obtuse, veins usually obscure; sori in continuous marginal band, covered by recurved margins; sporangia with 32 or 64 tan spores.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Calcareous outcrops, ledges, and crevices
- Distribution
- Principally east 1/2 of Kansas
Additional Notes
Comments
Pellaea, Greek "dark", perhaps alluding to the bluish-gray leaves. Pellaea atropurpurea is usually larger and more pubescent and has fertile pinnules that are narrower than the sterile pinnules.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Sedge
- Family
- Pteridaceae - Maidenhair Fern Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 6-14 inches
- Origin
- Native
- Last Updated
- 2019-02-26
Flowering Period
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Blooms: May, June, July, August, September, October