FORKED SPLEENWORT
Asplenium septentrionale
Spleenwort Family (Aspleniaceae)
Description: Dark green, shiny, grasslike leaves, grows to 6” long, ¹⁄₈” wide.
Elevation: 7,700 to 9,000’.
Habitat: Crevices in rocks.
Comments: Evergreen. Nine species of Asplenium in Arizona. Photograph taken near Willow Springs Lake, September 9.
MAIDENHAIR SPLEENWORT
Asplenium trichomanes
Spleenwort Family (Aspleniaceae)
Description: Dark green, evergreen, dainty, rounded. Pinnae: ¼” long, toothed at tips. Stipe and rachis: dark purplish brown and brittle. Grows to 7” tall, ½” wide. Sori: few, elongated, often overlapping each other.
Elevation: 6,000 to 9,000’.
Habitat: Moist cracks under overhanging rock ledges.
Comments: A tiny fern. Nine species of Asplenium in Arizona. Photograph taken at Woods Canyon Lake, July 7.
BRACKEN
Brake
Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens
Bracken Fern Family (Dennstaedtiaceae)
Description: Dark green, very coarse texture, thick; bipinnate to tripinnate; broadly triangular, edges of segments turned under. Stipe: smooth, stiff, about same length as leafy part; green at first, turning dark brown with age. Frond to 3’ long, 3’ wide. Grows to 4’ high.
Elevation: 5,000 to 8,500’.
Habitat: Meadows, open woodlands, pine forests, and burned-over areas.
Comments: Most common fern; weedy. Often found in large colonies. Killed by first frost. One species of Pteridium in Arizona. Photograph taken at Black Canyon Lake, June 4.
LADY FERN
Athyrium felix-femina
Shield Fern Family (Drypoteridaceae)
Description: Green, not evergreen; delicate, pinnately cleft. Pinnae with pointed tips, cleft, and toothed. Lower pinnae project forward. Rachis: smooth and slightly grooved. Grows to 3’ tall, 8” wide at widest section. Sori: dark brown, curved, in 2 rows on underside of each pinnule.
Elevation: 7,000 to 9,500’.
Habitat: Shaded areas along streams and springs in rich soil.
Comments: Fronds form a vase-shaped, circular cluster. One species of Athyrium in Arizona. Photographs taken at Lee Valley Reservoir in mountains above Greer, July 2.
FRAGILE BLADDER FERN
Cystopteris fragilis
Shield Fern Family (Dryopteridaceae)
Description: Bright green to dark green; stalk very brittle, pinnules fan-shaped and very variable in toothing. Stipe: black to dark brown. Rachis: smooth, green or straw-colored. Grows to 10” tall, 3” wide. Sori: brown.
Elevation: 5,000 to 12,000’.
Habitat: Rich, moist soil among rock ledges and springs, in shade.
Comments: Four species of Cystopteris in Arizona. Photograph taken at Woods Canyon Lake, August 9.
MALE FERN
Shield Fern
Dryopteris filix-mas
Shield Fern Family (Dryopteridaceae)
Description: Dark green above, lighter green beneath, semi-evergreen, leathery; pinnules parallel-sided and blunt-tipped. Grows to 18” tall, 8” wide; widest at center of frond. Sori: large, whitish, located toward midvein.
Elevation: 6,500 to 10,000’.
Habitat: Rock crevices in rich soil, cool forests and along streams.
Comments: The drug aspidium is derived from this fern. Four species of Dryopteris in Arizona. Photograph taken on San Francisco Peaks, June 4.
FLOWER CUP FERN
Woodsia plummerae
Shield Fern Family (Dryopteridaceae)
Description: Light green, thin; pinnules fringed and wavy-edged. Stipe: dark reddish brown; undersides of fertile fronds have large dark brown patches covering the sori. Pinnae to 1” long. Grows to 7” long, 2” wide.
Elevation: 2,000 to 9,000’.
Habitat: In the shade of cliffs and rock ledges.
Comments: Mostly rock-inhabiting ferns. Six species of Woodsia in Arizona. Photograph taken at Woods Canyon Lake, August 3.
WESTERN POLYPODY
Polypodium hesperium (Polypodium vulgare)
Polypody Fern Family (Polypodiaceae)
Description: Dark green above, lighter green beneath, evergreen; pinnately cleft, 4 to 14 pairs of pinnae with rounded tips. Grows from 4 to 15” tall, 1¾” wide. Sori: brown, round, in 2 rows on underside of each pinnule.
Elevation: 7,000 to 9,000’.
Habitat: Moist slopes in canyon and conifer forests.
Comments: Creeping, scaly rhizomes. One species of Polypodium in Arizona. Photograph taken at Woods Canyon Lake, July 7.
COCHISE CLOAK FERN
Narrow Cloak Fern
Astrolepis cochisensis (Notholaena cochisensis)
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Olive green above, brownish scales beneath; tall narrow fronds. Stipe: round, brownish. Rachis: reddish brown, very hairy, to 8” long. Pinnae: 1 or 2 pairs of lobes, roundish to oval, hairy, to ¼” long, ³⁄₁₆” wide. Frond and stem to ½” wide, 9” long.
Elevation: 1,000 to 7,000’.
Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes and canyons.
Comments: Poisonous to livestock. Six species of Astrolepis in Arizona. Photograph taken at Saguaro National Park West, April 17.
WAVY CLOAK FERN
Astrolepis sinuata (Notholaena sinuata)
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Olive green above, brownish scales beneath; tall narrow fronds. Stipe: round, brown with whitish scales, to 4” long. Rachis: very scaly, to 16” long. Pinnae: 3 to 6 pairs of lobes, wavyedged, to ¾” long. Front and stem to 1¼” wide, 2’ long.
Elevation: 1,000 to 7,000’.
Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes.
Comments: Often found in limestone areas. Six species of Astrolepis in Arizona. Photograph taken at Tortilla Flat, December 10. A similar looking species, Golden Lipfern (Cheilanthes bonariensis), is discussed on page 435.
GOLDEN LIPFERN
Cheilanthes bonariensis
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Similar in appearance to Wavy Cloak Fern, the leaflets of this species are densely woolly beneath, not scaly.
Elevation: 4,000 to 7,000’.
Habitat: Golden lipfern is found in rock crevices in the oak woodlands of mountains in much of southern Arizona.
Comments: The range of this species is huge, extending south to Argentina, and includes the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola. Photograph taken in the Santa Rita Mountains, May 11.
BEADED LIP FERN
Fairy Sword
Cheilanthes wootonii
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Golden green above, thick cinnamonbrown scales beneath, tripinnate, beadlike segments. Stipe: dark brown, scaly, woolly haired. Grows to 6” at lower elevations, 11” in mountains.
Elevation: 2,000 to 8,000’.
Habitat: Dry slopes among rocks.
Comments: Grows in long rows. Seventeen species of Cheilanthes in Arizona. Photograph taken on Mount Graham, April 21.
CALIFORNIA CLOAK FERN
Notholaena californica (Cheilanthes deserti)
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Dull green and very glandular above, yellowish beneath; rough, star-shaped fronds. Frond to 1½” wide, 1½” long. Stipe: round, chestnut brown. Grows to 5” tall.
Elevation: 1,000 to 3,000’.
Habitat: Crevices on dry, rocky slopes; in canyons.
Comments: Six species of Notholaena in Arizona. Photograph taken in Superstition Mountains, January 28.
STAR CLOAK FERN
Standley’s Cloak Fern
Notholaena standleyi
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Dark green and shiny above, covered with golden wax beneath; symmetrical, starshaped fronds. Stipe: round, reddish brown. Front to 4” wide. Grows to 8” high.
Elevation: 1,000 to 6,500’.
Habitat: Dry banks and rock ledges.
Comments: Loses more than 50 percent of its water content during drought, forming a dustybrown curl. Six species of Notholaena in Arizona. Photograph taken at Tortilla Flat, December 10.
WRIGHT’S CLIFF BRAKE
Pellaea ternifolia var. wrightiana
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Bluish green. Stipe: round, grooved, shiny, very dark chestnut brown to almost black. Blade: narrowly triangular, bipinnate. Pinnae: slightly wavy-edged with margins rolled under. Grows to 15” tall.
Elevation: 4,000 to 8,000’.
Habitat: Rocky hillsides and crevices.
Comments: Evergreen rock fern. Eight species of Pellaea in Arizona. Photograph taken on Mount Graham, April 21.
SPINY CLIFF BRAKE
Pellaea truncata (Pellaea longimucronata)
Cloak Fern Family (Pteridaceae)
Description: Bluish green, triangular-shaped frond; bipinnate, up to 10 pairs of oval leaflets. Stipe: shiny, chestnut brown, hairless, grooved, stiff. Grows to 15” high.
Elevation: 2,000 to 6,000’.
Habitat: Rocky crevices and cliffs.
Comments: Eight species of Pellaea in Arizona. Photograph taken in Superstition Mountains, February 4.