Cheilanthes

Cheilanthes
Cheilanthes parryi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Subfamily: Cheilanthoideae
Genus: Cheilanthes
Sw.[1]
Type species
Cheilanthes micropteris
Sw.
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Chrysochosma (J.Sm.) Kümmerle
  • Cincinalis Gled. ex Desv.
  • Leptolepidium K.H.Hsing & S.K.Wu
  • Neurosoria Mett. ex Kuhn
  • Oeosporangium Vis.
  • Pomatophytum M.E.Jones[1]

Cheilanthes, commonly known as lip ferns,[2] is a genus of about 180 species of rock-dwelling ferns with a cosmopolitan distribution in warm, dry, rocky regions, often growing in small crevices high up on cliffs. Most are small, sturdy and evergreen. The leaves, often densely covered in trichomes, spring directly from the rootstocks. Many of them are desert ferns, curling up during dry times and reviving with the coming of moisture. At the ends of veins sporangia, or spore-bearing structures, are protected by leaf margins, which curl over them.

  1. ^ a b "Genus: Cheilanthes Sw". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  2. ^ "Cheilanthes". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2011-10-23.