Cryptogramma cascadensis
Encyclopedia
Cryptogramma cascadensis is a species of fern
known by the common names Cascade parsley fern and Cascade rockbrake. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
to Montana
to California
, where it grows in the cracks and crevices of mountain talus
slopes, especially in moist subalpine
areas on volcanic or granite rocks. The plant forms a clump from a rhizome
. It has two types of leaves. The sterile leaf is flat with lobed oval or diamond-shaped leaflets, and the fertile leaf is longer, with narrow, thick, fingerlike leaflets with edges curled under to cover the sporangia
on the undersides.
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...
known by the common names Cascade parsley fern and Cascade rockbrake. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows in the cracks and crevices of mountain talus
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
slopes, especially in moist subalpine
Subalpine
The subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below tree line around the world. Species that occur in this zone depend on the location of the zone on the Earth, for example, Snow Gum in Australia, or Subalpine Larch, Mountain Hemlock and Subalpine Fir in western North America.Trees in the...
areas on volcanic or granite rocks. The plant forms a clump from a rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
. It has two types of leaves. The sterile leaf is flat with lobed oval or diamond-shaped leaflets, and the fertile leaf is longer, with narrow, thick, fingerlike leaflets with edges curled under to cover 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...
on the undersides.