Myriopteris cooperae

Myriopteris cooperae
Two light-green fern fronds in front of a rock with long pale hairs and dark axes
Frond of M. cooperae

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Genus: Myriopteris
Species:
M. cooperae
Binomial name
Myriopteris cooperae
(D.C.Eaton) Grusz & Windham
Synonyms
  • Allosorus cooperae (D.C.Eaton) Farw.
  • Cheilanthes cooperae D.C.Eaton
  • Hemionitis cooperae (D.C.Eaton) Christenh.

Myriopteris cooperae, formerly Cheilanthes cooperae, is a species of lip fern known by the common name Mrs. Cooper's lip fern, or simply Cooper's lip fern. Its leaves grow in clusters and are highly dissected into oblong segments, rather than the beadlike segments found in some other members of the genus. The axes of the leaves are dark and covered in long, flattened hairs. It is only known from California, where it grows in rocky habitats, usually over limestone. The species was named in honor of its collector, Sarah Paxson Cooper; according to Daniel Cady Eaton, who described it in 1875, it was the first fern species to be named for a female botanist.