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Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J. Sm. 1866

Waxless Cloakfern

Carl Rothfels
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Containing group: Notholaena aureolina clade

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

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.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Notholaena brachypus
Location Nicaragua, Pueblo Nuevo
Acknowledgements Reproduced with permission from PlantSystematics.org
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Life Cycle Stage sporophyte
Copyright © 2004
Scientific Name Notholaena brachypus
Location Costa Rica, Prov. de Guanacaste
Comments Just when you think you'll never find any cheilanthoids... A roadside bank of dormant Notholaena brachypus and an excited Carl.
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By C.J.Rothfels
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2008
Scientific Name Notholaena brachypus
Location Nicaragua, Pueblo Nuevo
Acknowledgements Reproduced with permission from PlantSystematics.org
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Copyright © 2004
About This Page

Carl Rothfels
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Carl Rothfels at

Page: Tree of Life Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J. Sm. 1866. Waxless Cloakfern. Authored by Carl Rothfels. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Rothfels, Carl. 2008. Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J. Sm. 1866. Waxless Cloakfern. Version 23 December 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Notholaena_brachypus/133619/2008.12.23 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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