Myriopteris gracilis Fée. Common name: Slender Lipfern. Phenology: Mar-Nov. Habitat: Dry outcrops of calcareous sedimentary rocks (dolostone), other rock outcrops. Distribution: WI, MN, SD, MT, AB, and BC south to AR, TX, NM, AZ, s. CA, and n. Mexico (Chihuahua and Coahuila); disjunct eastward in KY, w. VA, and c. NC. Known from a dolostone cliff in Pulaski County, VA, where disjunct about 450 km east of a population in Bullitt County, KY, and an additional 200 km from other populations in IL (Wieboldt & Bentley 1982, Porter & Wieboldt 1991); an additional eastern collection from 1930 has recently come to light, from Durham Co. in nc. NC (Rothfels, Sigel, & Windham 2012).
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Taxonomy Comments: The species is an apogamous triploid of unknown parentage. This asexual triploid species shows considerable genetic diversity, with eastern populations (driftless area of WI and MN south to MO Ozarks; and disjunct populations eastwards) forming a clade separate from more western populations (Wickell et al. 2017).
Synonymy ⓘ: = Can, K4, Grusz & Windham (2013); = Cheilanthes feei T.Moore — Ar, C, ETx1, FNA2, G, GrPl, Il, Mo1, NS, S13, Tx, TxFerns, Va, W, Lellinger (1985); = Hemionitis feei (T.Moore) Christenh. — POWO, Christenhusz, Fay, & Byng (2018); = n/a — RAB. Basionym: Myriopteris gracilis Fée 1852
Links to other floras: = Cheilanthes feei - FNA2
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Heliophily ⓘ: 7
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Myriopteris gracilis, Tunnel Slot Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Garfield County, Utah 3 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Myriopteris gracilis, Tongue River Canyon, Bighorn National Forest, Sheridan County, Wyoming 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷Feedback
See something missing or incorrect about Myriopteris gracilis? Let us know here:
- Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
- If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
- Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
- Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
- Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.
Horticultural Information
No horticultural data found for this taxon.