Notholaena californica
Encyclopedia
Notholaena californica is a species of fern
known by the common name California cloak fern. It is native to southern California
, Arizona
, and adjacent northwestern Mexico, where it grows in dry, rocky habitat types.
. It is hairless and lacks scales. The leaf is covered in grainy exudate known as farina. The fern comes in two chemotype
s which can be distinguished by the color of the farina, white or yellow, and the two are rarely found growing together. The two chemotypes are sometimes treated as subspecies.
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
known by the common name California cloak fern. It is native to southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and adjacent northwestern Mexico, where it grows in dry, rocky habitat types.
Description
The leaves are divided into often asymmetrical leaflets which are subdivided into lobed segments, the leaf measuring 3 to 20 centimeters in total length, not counting the long, brown petiolePetiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. It is hairless and lacks scales. The leaf is covered in grainy exudate known as farina. The fern comes in two chemotype
Chemotype
Introduced by Pierre Franchomme in 1975 and formalized in the European Union in 2006 with the adoption of the regulation REACH, a chemotype is a chemically distinct entity in a plant or microorganism, with differences in the composition of the secondary metabolites...
s which can be distinguished by the color of the farina, white or yellow, and the two are rarely found growing together. The two chemotypes are sometimes treated as subspecies.