Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
Key to families | Table of families and genera
Previous taxon Index to accepted names and synonyms:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Next taxon


Cystopteridaceae
FRAGILE FERN FAMILY


Cystopteridaceae
Habit: Perennial herb in soil on rock crevices; rhizome short- to long-creeping. Leaf: spirally arranged, short-spaced or distant, 5--40 cm, +- alike; stipe firm or fleshy, with 2 vascular strands, often expanded at base ("trophopods"); blade 2--3-pinnate-pinnately lobed, thin-herbaceous, broadest at the base or lanceolate, veins free, extending to leaf margin. Sporangia: sori round, with hood-like indusium arching over sorus [naked (Gymnocarpium)].
Genera In Family: 3 genera, +- 37 species: Cystopteris and Gymnocarpium widespread north-temperate (Cystopteris south through Andes, Africa, Australia, New Zealand); Acystopteris southeast Asia (Rothfels et al. 2013 Syst Bot 38:295--306). Note: Polyploidy, often accompanied by hybridization (allopolyploidy), common; many widespread species represent complexes of allopolyploid lineages (Rothfels et al. 2014 Taxon 63:1026--1036; Rothfels et al. 2016 New Phytol in press). Outlying (sister) family to remainder of the large eupolypods II clade (suborder Aspleniineae; Pteridophyte Phyogeny Group 2016 J Syst Evol in press); only distantly related to Woodsiaceae, where often included (Smith et al. 2016 Taxon 55:705--731).
Jepson eFlora Author: Carl J. Rothfels & Alan R. Smith
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin & Thomas J. Rosatti.
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Sphaeropteris cooperi
Next taxon: Cystopteris

Name Search

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: Carl J. Rothfels & Alan R. Smith 2016, Cystopteridaceae, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 4, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=101729, accessed on April 24, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.