Astrolepis D.M. Benham & Windham. Common name: Star-scaled Cloak Fern.
A genus of about 8 species, of s. North America, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. This group of species has traditionally been placed either in Notholaena or Cheilanthes, but is best recognized as a separate genus, more closely related to Argyrochosma, Pellaea, and Cheilanthes than to Notholaena (Gastony & Rollo 1998; PPG I 2016).
ID notes: Astrolepis has grayish or bluish pinnate leaves (the pinnae sometimes lobed), with tiny, whitish, star-shaped scales on the upper leaf surface and white to brown, lanceolate, and shaggily fringed scales on the lower surface. Astrolepis occurs in dry, usually rock outcrop associated situations in our region.
References: Benham & Windham (1993) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993b); Gastony & Rollo (1998); Tryon, Tryon, & Kramer In Kramer & Green (1990). Show full citations.
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© Alan Cressler: Astrolepis integerrima, Danger Glade, Ketona Dolomite, Bibb County, Alabama 1 by Alan Cressler | Astrolepis integerrima source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Astrolepis sinuata, Slaughter Canyon Cave Trail, Slaughter Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy County, New Mexico 2 by Alan Cressler | Astrolepis sinuata ssp. sinuata source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Astrolepis integerrima, Slaughter Canyon Cave Trail, Slaughter Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy County, New Mexico 2 by Alan Cressler | Astrolepis integerrima source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Astrolepis integerrima, Cloakfern Glade, Ketona Dolomite, Kathy Stiles Freeland Bibb County Glades Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Bibb County, Alabama 3 by Alan Cressler | Astrolepis integerrima source | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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