TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

PTERIDACEAE

BRAKE FAMILY

Alan R. Smith and Thomas Lemieux

Perennial, in soil or on or among rocks; rhizome creeping to erect, scaly
Leaves generally all ± alike (or of 2 kinds, fertile and sterile), generally < 50 cm, often < 25 cm; petiole generally thin, wiry, often dark, in transverse section with vascular strands generally 1–3, less often many in a circle; blade generally pinnate or ± palmate-pinnate (see Adiantum ), often 2 or more compound, lower surface often with glands, ± powdery exudate, hairs, or scales; segments round, oblong, fan-shaped, or otherwise, veins generally free
Sporangia in sori or not, marginal, submarginal, or along veins, sometimes covered by recurved, often modified segment margins (false indusia); true indusia 0; spores spheric, sides sometimes flat, scar with 3 radiating branches
Genera in family: ± 40 genera, 500 species: worldwide, especially dry areas. Definition of Cheilanthes and related genera problematic; traditional limits often untenable.

NOTHOLAENA

Plant in soil or often in granite rock crevices; rhizome short-creeping to suberect, scales linear-lanceolate
Leaf: petiole generally cylindric, dark brown to black, glabrous to ± scaly; blade 2–4-pinnate, axes and segments with white to yellow ± powdery exudate on lower, often upper sides, segments generally sessile, sometimes slightly narrower at base
Sporangia in ± continuous, marginal bands at maturity; segment margin recurved and partly covering sporangia, unmodified; spores finely ridged or granular, often blackish
Species in genus: ± 25 species: generally Mex, sw US, few in Caribbean, South America
Etymology: (Greek: false cloak, from leaf blade margin not reflexed as it is in Cheilanthes )
Reference: [Tryon 1956 Contr Gray Herb 179:1–106]

Native

N. californica D.C. Eaton

CALIFORNIA CLOAK FERN

Rhizome scales rigid, with darker (blackish) midrib extending nearly to margins, finely ciliate
Leaf 3-pinnate, ± 3–13 cm; blade axes brown to black, glabrous or with white to yellow exudate; lowermost 1° leaflets each strongly asymmetric (more developed on basal side); segment lower surface covered with white to yellow exudate, hairs 0, scales 0, upper surface sparsely dotted with white to yellow exudate
Sporangia 32-spored
Ecology: UNCOMMON. Dry rocky slopes, in rock crevices, under rock ledges
Elevation: 200–1300 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Channel Islands, San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, Desert Mountains, Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: Arizona, nw Mexico
Synonyms: subsp. nigrescens Ewan; Aleuritopteris cretacea (Liebm.) E. Fourn. misapplied
At least 2 forms in CA are chemically distinct: one with pale to bright yellow exudate on leaf upper surface; the other with white exudate on leaf upper surface
Horticultural information: DFCLT.