Myriopteris intertexta

Myriopteris intertexta
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Family:	Pteridaceae
Subfamily:	Cheilanthoideae
Genus:	Myriopteris
Species:	M. intertexta
Binomial name
Myriopteris intertexta (Maxon) Grusz & Windham
Synonyms
Cheilanthes covillei Maxon subsp. intertexta Maxon Cheilanthes intertexta (Maxon) Maxon Hemionitis intertexta (Maxon) Christenh.

Myriopteris intertexta, formerly Cheilanthes intertexta, is a species of lip fern known by the common name coastal lip fern. It is native to montane California and western Nevada, Oregon east of the Cascades, and with a disjunct population in central Utah. It grows in dry rocky habitats in sun, typically in rock cracks with little or no soil.

Description

This fern produces clusters of dark green leaves up to about 25 centimeters long. Each leaf is divided into bumpy segments which are subdivided into pairs of rounded beadlike ultimate segments with their edges curled under to make them concave underneath. Each ultimate segment is less than 3 millimeters wide, sparsely hairy on top and scaly on the underside. Its sori are mostly hidden under the scales and curled leaflet margin (false indusium). The long-lanceolate scales on the underside of the leaflets are approximately 1 mm wide at their base, intermediate between those of its two parents (M. gracillima scales are very narrow (hair like) and those of M. covillei are 2–3 mm wide). The leaves arise from a short creeping rhizome, such that plants often have an elongated base, for example creeping along a rock crevice.

Myriopteris intertexta lower leaf surface. Photograph by Timothy McNitt.

Range

M. intertexta is found in Oregon, California, and eastern Nevada. In addition, there is an apparently disjunct population in north-central Utah on Mount Olympus in the Wasatch Range. The range of M. intertexta is intermediate between that of its two parents M. gracillima (with a range that extends further north) and M. covillei (with a range that extends further south and east into southern California, Arizona, and the Baja California peninsula and central Mexico).

Taxonomy

This fern is thought to be an allotetraploid fertile hybrid of Myriopteris gracillima (maternal) and Myriopteris covillei (paternal).

References

Works cited

• Grusz, Amanda L.; Windham, Michael D. (2013). "Toward a monophyletic Cheilanthes: The resurrection and recircumscription of Myriopteris (Pteridaceae)". PhytoKeys (32): 49–64. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.32.6733. PMC 3881352. PMID 24399906.
• Grusz, Amanda L.; Windham, Michael D.; Yatskievych, George; Huiet, Lane; Gastony, Gerald J.; Pryer, Kathleen M. (2014). "Patterns of Diversification in the Xeric-adapted Fern Genus Myriopteris (Pteridaceae)" (PDF). Systematic Botany. 39 (3): 698–714. doi:10.1600/036364414X681518. JSTOR 24546228.
• Kirkpatrick, Ruth E.B.; Smith, Alan R.; Lemieux, Thomas; Alverson, Edward, eds. (2014). "Myriopteris intertexta". Jepson eFlora, Revision 2. Jepson Flora Project. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
• Windham, Michael D.; Rabe, Eric W. (1993). "Cheilanthes intertexta". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 2: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

External links

• Calflora Database: Myriopteris intertexta (Coastal lip fern) — formerly Cheilanthes intertexta.
• Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Myriopteris intertexta — formerly Cheilanthes intertexta.
• USDA Plants Profile for Cheilanthes intertexta (coastal lip fern)
• UC Photos gallery — Cheilanthes intertexta