Myriopteris rufa Fée. Chestnut Lipfern, Eaton's Lipfern. Phen: Jun-Sep. Hab: Dry outcrops of sedimentary or metamorphic rocks (including calcareous shales and siltstones). Dist: Sw. TX to s. AZ and south into Mexico, with scattered disjunct occurrences in c. OK, n. AR, e. WV, and c. and w. VA (to be expected elsewhere in our area); disjunct in Costa Rica.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Other Comments: The ultimate segments of the pinnules are roundish and closely spaced, so that they overlap the adjacent segments of the pinnule and the segments of the adjacent pinnule. These characters do not match some descriptions (such as in Z). Whether or not "Cheilanthes" castanea is distinct from or merely a form of "Cheilanthes" eatonii is controversial. Most plants (including those from the se. United States) are apomictic triploids of unknown parentage. The complex is under study by A. Grusz and M. Windham (Grusz, pers. comm., 2014).
Synonymy: = K3, K4, Grusz & Windham (2013); = Cheilanthes eatonii Baker – Ar, C, ETx1, FNA2, GrPl, K1, Meso1, Tx, TxFerns; = Hemionitis eatonii (Baker) Christenh. – Christenhusz, Fay, & Byng (2018); > Cheilanthes castanea Maxon – Va, W, WV, Lellinger (1985)
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