Pellaea pyramidalis

Description

Plants rupestral or terrestrial. Rhizomes compact to long-creeping, ascending or horizontal, scaly. Rhizome scales lanceolate to acicular, concolorous (tan to dark brown) or bicolorous (with dark central stripe and brown margins). Leaf vernation non-circinate to circinate. Petiolescastaneous to black, scaly and/or pubescent, rarely almost glabrous. Rachises terete or flattened or grooved adaxially, with indument similar to that of the petioles. Blades2- to 4-pinnate (rarely pinnate-pinnatifid), lanceolate to ovate-deltate, occasionally linear or pentagonal; adaxial surfaces glabrous or pubescent; abaxial surfaces scaly and/or pubescent or rarely glabrous. Ultimate segments round to oblong-ovate, minute to >1 cm long, the veins obscure and not ending in prominent hydathodes. Segment margins usually recurved, with a poorly differentiated false indusium (strongly differentiated in Myriopteris lendigera and Myriopteris marsupianthes). Sori usually partly to completely covered by the recurved segment margins, the sporangia clustered at vein tips. Sporangia 64-spored (in sexual species) or 32-spored (in apomicts). Spores globose-tetrahedral, tan to brown, cristate to rugulate. Chromosome numbers n = 29, 30, 58, 60 (sexual species); n = 2n = 87, 90 (apomictic triploids); n = 2n = 120 (apomictic tetraploids).