Pteridophytes (Spore Producing Plants: Ferns and More) • Earth.com

Cliffbrake

(Pellaea glaciogena)

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Description

They typically have creeping rhizomes and pinnately to bipinnately compound leaves lacking prominent scales or trichomes on the blades. Like most members of Pteridaceae, they have marginal sori protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed leaf margin.The distinction of Pellaea from the typically hairier or scalier Cheilanthes has proven difficult, with some members being of uncertain affinity, listed by different authors in both genera. Furthermore, Pellaea contains a number of sections that may warrant generic status since they appear to represent convergence in phenotypes related to arid habitats rather than similarity due to common descent. These sections are:Pellaea section Pellaea: includes most American members of the genus as well as a single African member (P. rufa);Pellaea section Platyloma: includes the Australian and New Zealand species;Pellaea section Holcochlaena: includes the African species.The genus Ormopteris, long combined with Pellaea as a section, was recognized as a separate genus again in 2015.Members of the genus are not generally used for any commercial purpose, although several species (most notably P. rotundifolia and P. falcata of section Platyloma) are cultivated as indoor plants.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Pteridophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order:Polypodiales
Family:Pteridaceae
Genus:Pellaea
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