''Astrolepis cochisensis'' is a species of
fern
The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
known by the common name Cochise scaly cloak fern. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occupies mainly desert habitat, often on
calcareous soils.
Description
The fern grows from a short
rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...
. The rhizome bears tan scales, sometimes dark at the base, which is up to long and may or may not have hairlike small teeth on the edge. The leaves are long, and divided into 20 to 50 pairs of
pinnae (leaflets) which are sometimes lobed. The pinnae are
oblong
An oblong is an object longer than it is wide, especially a non-square rectangle.
Oblong may also refer to:
Places
* Oblong, Illinois, a village in the United States
* Oblong Township, Crawford County, Illinois, United States
* A strip of land ...
. The largest specimens typically measure long. Some lack lobes altogether; others bear 1 to 4 lobes, asymmetrically arranged on the pinna. The lobes are broadly rounded, and the indentations between them are shallow.
The leaflets are coated in star-shaped scales on the upper surface and hairy lance-shaped scales beneath.
Notes and references
References
Works cited
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External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile
Pteridaceae
Ferns of California
Ferns of the United States
Flora of the Southwestern United States
Flora of the California desert regions
Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
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