Pellaea

Pellaea, or cliff breaks, is a genus some 55 - 65 species, most of which are endemic to the southwestern United States and Mexico, with a number of species also occuring in southern Africa.

They are small to medium sized ferns evergreen which tend to inhabit dry, rocky places, and often grow in full sun. Many species have foliage which transitions from frosted green to sun-repellant blue as light increases.

Most of the species native to America do not transplant readily.

A total of six species are endemic to California: Pellaea andromedifolia, Pellaea brachyptera, Pellaea breweri, Pellaea bridgesii, Pellaea mucronata, and Pellaea truncata, along with two sub-species, Pellaea mucronata ssp. californica and Pellaea mucronata ssp. mucronata, and one naturally occuring hybrid, Pellaea ×glaciogena.

The 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants lists four species as threatened.

Click here for a distribution map for Pellaea in the United States and Canada (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service).

Click here for Pellaea in the the Encyclopedia of Life.

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