''Myriopteris parryi'', formerly known as ''Cheilanthes parryi'', is a species of lip fern known by the common name Parry's lip fern.

Description

''Myriopteris parryi'' is a small tufted fern growing from a short creeping

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

with medium brown scales, most with a darker thread-like mid-stripe. The leaf is usually 6-15 cm long (rarely up to 25 cm) and 1-3 cm wide. The leaf blades are oblong-lanceolate, twice pinnate, and densely wooly. The stipe (leaf stalk) is no more than 1 mm wide and has hairs that range in length, are bent, and are variably appressed to the stipe. Leaf segments are small, nearly round, and flat, with tangled hairs about 4 mm long densely on both surfaces. The adaxial (upper) leaf hairs are silver to white and the abaxial (lower) leaf hairs are tan to brown or golden. The pale hairs on top of the leaflets are often thick enough to make the plant look quite woolly from above. On the underside of the leaf the dark colored sporangia may be buried beneath the coating of hairs. Like many ''Myriopteris'' ferns, when conditions are dry the fronds may curl up with their abaxial surface exposed.Felger, R.S., S. Rutman, J. Malusa, and T.R. Van Devender. 2013. Ajo Peak to Tinajas Altas: A flora of southwestern Arizona: Part 3: Ferns, lycopods, and gymnosperms. Phytoneuron 2013-37: 1–46., url=https://cals.arizona.edu/herbarium/sites/cals.arizona.edu.herbarium/files/pdf/03PhytoN.pdf

Range and Habitat

This fern is native to the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, California, and Baja California, where it grows in rocky crevices in the mountains and deserts.

Taxonomy

Based on plastid DNA sequence analysis, ''Myriopteris parryi'' is part of the ''lanosa'' clade in the ''

Myriopteris ''Myriopteris'', commonly known as the lip ferns, is a genus of cheilanthoid ferns. Like other cheilanthoids, they are ferns of dry habitats, reproducing both sexually and apogamously. Many species have leaves divided into a large number of sma ...

'' genus, with '' Myriopteris rawsonii'' its closest analyzed relative.

References

Works cited

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External links

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Myriopteris parryi''''Cheilanthes parryi'' — UC Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17196810, from2=Q5089654, from3=Q38242052 parryi Ferns of California Ferns of Mexico Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Baja California Flora of Nevada Flora of Utah Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of Arizona Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Ferns of the United States Plants described in 1875