Pellaea Andromedifolia
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''Pellaea andromedifolia'', with the common names coffee cliffbrake and coffee fern, is a species of cliff brake
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 ...
in the
Cheilanthoideae Cheilanthoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the fern family Pteridaceae. The subfamily is understood to be monophyletic, but some of the genera as currently defined are not. Most species are xeric-adapted, and the subfamily is most diverse ...
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 ...
. It is native to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
in the United States and
Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
in Mexico.


Description

This plant does not have the immediately recognizable sharply pointed leaflets on its
frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...
s that many other ferns have. Its leaves bear rounded or oval-shaped segments widely spaced along the
rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...
. Each segment may curl under along its edges. The leaves are green when new, then turn red, purplish, or brown. Some individuals of this species are diploid and reproduce sexually, while some are triploid or tetraploid and reproduce by
apogamy In botany, apomixis is asexual development of seed or embryo without fertilization. However, other definitions include replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils. Apomictically produced offspring are genetical ...
(growth of a plant from a gamete without fertilization).


Habitat

''Pellaea andromedifolia'' is found on rocky outcrops and dry slopes in coastal,
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
, and
California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s. It is able to take long periods without water, when it will shrivel and appear dead. Then shortly after rainfall new growth appears quickly from the ground. It is not crown forming, but spreading slowly and forming clumps.


References


External links


Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Pellaea andromedifolia''''Pellaea andromedifolia'' - Photo galleryUSDA Plants Profile; Pellaea andromedifolia
andromedifolia Ferns of California Flora of Baja California Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges {{Pteridaceae-stub