Pellaea

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales > Pteridaceae > Pellaea

Other links:    

Species:   P falcata

Plant  information

Common name:         Cliff Brake  (only some members)

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• From Late Greek pellaia, feminine of pellaios dark-colored; from the dark leaves

Spores:                            

• Like most members of Pteridaceae, they have marginal sori protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed leaf margin

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Leaves:         

• Typically have innately to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichomes on the blades

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• Typically have creeping rhizomes 

Habit:        

• Typically have creeping rhizomes and pinnately to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichomes on the blades

Habitat:   

• They primarily grow in rocky habitats, including moist rocky canyons, slopes, and bluffs

Distribution:                  

• Ferns in this genus are most abundant and diverse in the southwestern United States south into Andean South America, central and southern Africa, and eastern Australia to New Zealand

Species:                     

• World:            . . .

• Australia:      . . .

Additional notes:     

• Pellaea is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae

• Identification

  • The distinction of Pellaea from the typically hairier or scalier Cheilanthes has proven difficult, with some members being of uncertain affinity, listed by different authors in both genera

  • Furthermore, Pellaea contains a number of sections that may warrant generic status since they appear to represent convergence in phenotypes related to arid habitats rather than similarity due to common descent

  • These sections are:

    • Pellaea section Pellaea: includes most American members of the genus as well as a single African member (P. rufa);

    • Pellaea section Platyloma: includes the Australian and New Zealand species;

    • Pellaea section Holcochlaena: includes the African species.

    • The genus Ormopteris, long combined with Pellaea as a section, was recognized as a separate genus again in 2015

• Use

  • Most members of the genus are not generally used for any commercial purpose

  • Several species (most notably P. rotundifolia and P. falcata of section Platyloma) are cultivated as indoor plants

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellaea_(plant) (2023)