''Astrolepis'' is a small genus 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 in the family

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 ...

. It was formed in 1992 from species previously placed in ''

Cheilanthes ''Cheilanthes'', commonly known as lip ferns, is a genus of about 180 species of rock-dwelling ferns with a cosmopolitan distribution in warm, dry, rocky regions, often growing in small crevices high up on cliffs. Most are small, sturdy and ever ...

'' and ''

Notholaena ''Notholaena'' is a genus of ferns known as cloak ferns in the family Pteridaceae. Species of this genus are mostly epipetric (growing on rock) or occurring in coarse, gravelly soils, and are most abundant and diverse in the mountain ranges of wa ...

''. The name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words ἄστρον (), meaning "star," and λεπίς (), meaning "scale," referring to the star-like scales on adaxial blade surfaces. Members of the genus are commonly known as star-scaled cloak ferns and are native to the Americas.

Species

, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized the following species: *'' Astrolepis cochisensis'' (Goodd.) D.M.Benham & Windham – Cochise scaly cloakfern *'' Astrolepis crassifolia'' (Houlston & T.Moore) D.M.Benham & Windham *'' Astrolepis deltoidea'' (Baker) J.B.Beck & Windham *'' Astrolepis integerrima'' (Hook.) D.M.Benham & Windham – hybrid cloakfern *'' Astrolepis laevis'' (M.Martens & Galeotti) Mickel *'' Astrolepis obscura'' J.B.Beck & Windham *'' Astrolepis sinuata'' (Lag. ex Sw.) D.M.Benham & Windham – wavy scaly cloakfern *'' Astrolepis windhamii'' D.M.Benham – Windham's scaly cloakfern

References

External links

* *
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile
Pteridaceae Fern genera {{Pteridaceae-stub