| Pellaea atropurpurea | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Family: | Pteridaceae |
| Genus: | Pellaea |
| Species: | P. atropurpurea
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| Binomial name | |
| Pellaea atropurpurea | |
Pellaea atropurpurea, commonly known as purple-stem cliffbrake or just purple cliffbrake, is a fern native to North and Central America. Brake is an old word for fern, related to the word bracken. Like many other members of the Pteridaceae, it is a rock plant, needing a calcareous substrate.
P. atropurpurea is an apogamous autotriploid, with 3n=87 (actual base number, n=29), and is one of the historical parents of the hybrid species complex, Pellaea glabella. Apogamy, or the ability to reproduce non-sexually, is common among rock ferns in the Pteridaceae.
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Pellaea atropurpurea Purple-stem Cliffbrake". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 9 October 2020.