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.

CRYPTOGRAMMA

PARSLEY FERN, ROCK-BRAKE

Alan R. Smith, Thomas Lemieux, and Edward Alverson

Plant in rocky places; rhizome creeping-decumbent, scales brown
Leaves tufted, deciduous or evergreen, of 2 kinds (fertile more erect, with longer petioles, longer, narrower segments than sterile); petioles dark, scaly at base, tan to greenish, glabrous above base; blades 2–4-pinnate, triangular, lanceolate, or elliptic; veins free
Sporangia along veins, submarginal, appearing to cover surface at maturity; false indusia linear, extending from segment base to tip. Possibly
Species in genus: 11 species: temp North America, South America, Eur, Asia
Etymology: (Greek: hidden line, from protected sori)
Reference: [Alverson 1989 Amer Fern J 79:95–102]
Horticultural information: DFCLT.

Native

C. cascadensis E. Alverson

Rhizome forming small to large clumps
Leaves: fertile 5–25 cm; sterile 3–20 cm, blade ovate-lanceolate to deltate, green when mature
Chromosomes: 2n=60
Ecology: Generally ± moist talus slopes, crevices, often granitic or volcanic rock
Elevation: 2100–3400 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Montana