Argyrochosma
Encyclopedia
Argyrochosma is a genus of fern
s known commonly as false cloak ferns. Species now in this genus were previously treated as members of related genera Notholaena
or Pellaea
but were segregated into their own genus in 1987. These ferns, of which there are about 20 species, are native to the Americas, from North to South and including the Caribbean. They are commonly found growing in cracks between rocks. Their leaves are generally shorter than 40 centimeters and have rounded bluish or grayish green segments. Often the lower surface of the segments is coated in a white dust, and the sporangia
contain brown spores.
Selected species:
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s known commonly as false cloak ferns. Species now in this genus were previously treated as members of related genera Notholaena
Notholaena
Notholaena is a genus of ferns in the family Pteridaceae found exclusively in the New World. Ferns of this genus are mostly epipetric or occurring in coarse, gravelly soils, and are most abundant and diverse in the mountain ranges of warm arid or semiarid regions...
or Pellaea
Pellaea
Pellaea is a genus of ferns in the family Pteridaceae. The name is derived from the Greek word πελλος , meaning "dark," and refers to the bluish-gray stems. Members of the genus are commonly known as cliffbrakes...
but were segregated into their own genus in 1987. These ferns, of which there are about 20 species, are native to the Americas, from North to South and including the Caribbean. They are commonly found growing in cracks between rocks. Their leaves are generally shorter than 40 centimeters and have rounded bluish or grayish green segments. Often the lower surface of the segments is coated in a white dust, and the sporangia
Sporangium
A sporangium is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. All plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cycle...
contain brown spores.
Selected species:
- Argyrochosma dealbata - powdery false cloak fern
- Argyrochosma fendleri - Fendler's false cloak fern
- Argyrochosma incana - hairy false cloak fern
- Argyrochosma jonesiiArgyrochosma jonesiiArgyrochosma jonesii is a species of fern native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Its common name is Jones' false cloak fern. It grows in cracks in calcareous ledges and slopes in and around the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts...
- Jones' false cloak fern - Argyrochosma limitanea - southwestern false cloak fern
- Argyrochosma microphylla - small-leaf false cloak fern
External links
Further reading
- Windham, M. D. (1987). Argyrochosma, a new genus of cheilanthoid ferns. Amer. Fern J. 77: 37--41.