34 FERN FAMILY 



most common Pellaea in our district, the rigid stalks growing 

 in dense clumps on all of the cliffs around the Yosemite and 

 similar valleys. The plants possess a remarkable ability to 

 resist drought, since they grow in exceedingly dry places 

 where often exposed to the full force of the glaring sun. It 

 seems probable that the next two species will be eventually 

 united with this, since intermediate forms are being con- 

 stantly collected. Our text figures seem to indicate a marked 

 difference but they represent extreme forms of these three 

 species. 



4. P. brachyptera Baker. Stalks 2 to 8 in. long, clustered, 

 dark-brown, erect and wiry. Fronds about equalling the 

 stalks, Y^ to 1*4 in - wide, narrowly oblong-linear in outline, 

 2-pinnate; pinnae sessile, ascending, short, often broader than 

 long; segments % to ^ in. long, crowded, oblong-linear, with 

 sharp tip, the margins rolled back to the midrib, making the 

 segment almost cylindric. — Doubtfully distinct from no. 3, dif- 

 fering chiefly in the narrower fronds, their pinnae closely ap- 

 pressed. Yosemite and Little Yosemite valleys and north- 

 ward in the Sierra Nevada. 



5. P. wrightiana Hook. A species very closely resembling 

 no. 4 and perhaps better accepted as a form of it, being dis- 

 tinguished only by the shape of the frond, which is broader 

 in outline (broadly lanceolate or ovate) due to the widely 

 spreading pinnae. From no. 3 it differs mainly in having 

 2-pinnate fronds. — Specimens referrable to this form have 

 been gathered above the Yosemite Valley. 



6. P. andromedaefdlia Fee. Coffee-fern. Stalks 2 to 12 



in. long, light-brown and scattered. 

 Fronds as long as the stalks or some- 

 times longer, 3 to 8 in. wide, ovate or 

 ovate-oblong, 2 to 4-pinnate (usually 

 3-pinnate); pinnae distant and spread- 

 ing; segments l /$ to ^2 in. long, oval, 

 obtuse, fertile ones with margins 

 rolled back. 

 The Coffee-fern is a common spe- 

 cies in the Coast Ranges, where it grows on rocky hillsides. 

 We did not find it in the Yosemite National Park, but Mr. 

 S. H. Burnham has reported it from near the foot of Nevada 

 Falls and it has also been reported from Mt. Buckingham. 

 It is a widely distributed species, ranging to South America 

 and South Africa. The segments have edges strongly rolled 

 backward, thus resembling coffee berries. 



