FERN FAMILY 3 1 



1. C. gracillima Eat. Lace-fern. Stalks densely clustered, 

 1 to 6 in. long, dark brown, white-chaffy when 

 young, rachises with persistent delicate scales. 

 Fronds 1 to 4 in. long, 1 in. or less wide, linear- 

 oblong, 2-pinnate or occasionally 3-pinnate espe- 

 cially near the base; pinnae crowded, % to J^ in. 

 long; segments crowded, -h in. long, oblong, 

 smooth above (white-hairy when young), heavily 

 covered beneath with light reddish-brown wool 

 but not scaly. Indusium brown, formed of the 

 continuously recurved margin of the segment. 



The Lace-fern is common in our region and northward on 

 rocky walls and summits. It was locally noted at many 

 places around the Yosemite Valley and up Tenaya Canon. 



2. C. myriophylla Desv. Elegant Lip-fern. Stalks clus- 

 tered, \ l / 2 to 6 in. long, reddish brown, cov- 

 ered when young with scales and hairs inter- 

 mixed. Fronds 2 to 8 in. long, \y 2 in. or 

 less wide at base, oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 4- 

 pinnate; segments crowded, bead-like, ^g in. 

 or less wide, smooth above, with brown cil- 

 ated scales and matted wool beneath, mar- 

 gin unchanged but much incurved. 



This Lip-fern is abundant in rocky places, 

 especially along the walls of our lower val- 

 leys, ranging up to 5000 ft. or more in alti- 

 tude. In times of drought the fronds of this 

 and many other ferns of arid places roll up 

 and become dry. When the roots are again supplied with 

 moisture, these dry and apparently dead fronds unroll and 

 become active. Some botanists class our plant as C. fendleri 

 Hook., a species distinguished by its almost entire scales, 

 absence of wool, and slender, cord-like rootstocks. All of 

 our specimens, however, seem to be C. myriophylla, or at the 

 most only forms of it. 



Three other species of Cheilanthes have been reported from the Yosemite 

 Valley and below, but we have seen no authentic specimens from our district. 

 They are the following: C. calif ornica Mett., of the Coast Ranges, may be 

 distinguished by the smooth delicate fronds, green on both sides and without 

 hairs. The indusia are separate, lunate, and occur one at the end of each 

 fertile veinlet. C. cooperae Eat., grows in the clefts of rocks at Hites Cove, 

 on the South Fork of the Merced. Its fronds are densely white-hairy, the 

 segments not bead-like, as in the two species described above. The indusia 

 are more or less confluent, usually extending over the ends of several vein- 

 lets but not continuous all around the segments. C. clevelandii Eat,, is very 

 doubtfully accredited to our district. In technical characters and general 



