''Cryptogramma'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 ...
s known commonly as rockbrakes or parsley ferns. They are one of the three genera in the
Cryptogrammoideae
Cryptogrammoideae is a subfamily of ferns in the family Pteridaceae. The subfamily contains three genera and about 23 species.
Taxonomy
In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), Cryptogrammoideae is one of the five subf ...
subfamily of the
Pteridaceae
Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recogni ...
.
[ ''Cryptogramma'' ferns can be found in ]temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
regions on several continents worldwide. These ferns have two kinds of leaves which often look so different that at first glance they appear to belong to different plants. The fertile leaves have long, narrow, bumpy segments with undersides covered thickly in sporangia
A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...
. The edges of the segments may curl back to cover the sporangia, forming a false indusium. The sterile leaves have thinner, wider segments which may be rounded and resemble the leaves of parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...
. These ferns grow in rocky areas, often in crevices and cracks.
Distribution
In North America, species within this genus are distributed over western and northern United States, Northwestern Mexico, and Canada.
Phylogeny
References
Jepson Manual Treatment
USDA Plants Profile
genus description
Pteridaceae
Fern genera
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
{{Pteridaceae-stub