Pellaea brachyptera (T. Moore) Bak.

The distinctive Pellaea brachyptera reportedly hybridizes with P . mucronata (A. F. Tryon 1957; D. B. Lellinger 1985); the hybrids are morphologically intermediate plants with malformed spores.

Stems compact, ascending, stout, 5--10 mm diam.; scales bicolored, linear-subulate, 0.1--0.3 mm wide, centers dark brown to black, thick, margins brown, thin, dentate. Leaves monomorphic, clustered on stem, 8--40 cm; croziers sparsely villous. Petiole dark brown, lustrous, flattened or slightly grooved adaxially, without prominent articulation lines. Blade linear-oblong, 2-pinnate proximally, 1--4 cm wide; rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous. Pinnae strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 5--11 ultimate segments; costae straight, 5--20 mm, usually shorter than ultimate segments. Ultimate segments linear, 5--20 mm, leathery, glabrous; margins on fertile segments strongly revolute, covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, crenate; apex mucronate. Veins of ultimate segments obscure. Sporangia short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant farina-producing glands.

Calif., Oreg., Wash.

Sporulating summer--fall. Cliffs and rocky slopes, usually on igneous substrates, occasionally on serpentine; 900--2700m.

Platyloma brachyptera T. Moore, Gard. Chron., 141. 1873

Pellaea brachyptera is a species of fern known by the common name Sierra cliffbrake. It is native to the coastal and inland mountains of northern California and Oregon, and a disjunct population was discovered in Chelan County, Washington, in 1986.

Pellaea brachyptera là một loài thực vật có mạch trong họ Adiantaceae. Loài này được (T. Moore) Baker miêu tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1874.