Thelypteris puberula
Encyclopedia
Thelypteris puberula is a species of fern
known by the common name showy maiden fern. The variety Thelypteris puberula var. sonorensis is known by the common name Sonoran maiden fern.
It is native to southwestern North America and Central America, from the foothills and deserts of California
and Arizona
south through Mexico
to Costa Rica
. It grows in canyons, streambanks, and seep
s in several types of habitat. It is found at 50–550 m (164–1,804.5 ft) in elevation.
-bearing sori
.
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 name showy maiden fern. The variety Thelypteris puberula var. sonorensis is known by the common name Sonoran maiden fern.
It is native to southwestern North America and Central America, from the foothills and deserts of 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...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
south through Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. It grows in canyons, streambanks, and seep
Seep (hydrology)
A Seep is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer.-Description:Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their above-ground location. They are part of the limnology-geomorphology system...
s in several types of habitat. It is found at 50–550 m (164–1,804.5 ft) in elevation.
Description
Thelypteris puberula produces a number of regularly shaped, equally spaced green leaves with many long, flat, lance-shaped leaflets. One leaf may exceed 1.5 meters in length, and the thick leaflets may be over 20 centimeters long. The undersides of the leaflets are hairy, especially on the indusia covering the sporeSpore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
-bearing sori
Sorus
A sorus is a cluster of sporangia .In fungi and lichens, the sorus is surrounded by an external layer. In some red algae it may take the form of a depression into the thallus....
.