Compilation
Astrolepis cochisensis

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Name

Identification
Isotype of Astrolepis cochisensis (Goodding) Benham & Windham [family PTERIDACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by K. Rice, 2010
Related name
  • Astrolepis cochisensis
  • Notholaena cochisensis

Flora

Entry for Astrolepis cochisensis (Goodding) D. M. Benham & Windham [family ]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 2,
Names
Astrolepis cochisensis (Goodding) D. M. Benham & Windham [family ], Amer. Fern J., 82: 57. 1992
Notholaena cochisensis Goodding [family ADIANTACEAE], Muhlenbergia, 8: 93. 1912
Cheilanthes cochisensis (Goodding) Mickel [family ADIANTACEAE]
Cheilanthes sinuata (Lagasca ex Swartz) Domin var. cochisensis (Goodding) Munz [family ADIANTACEAE]
Notholaena sinuata (Lagasca ex Swartz) Kaulfuss var. cochisensis (Goodding) Weatherby [family ADIANTACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Dale M. Benham
Michael D. Windham
Information
Stems compact; stem scales uniformly tan or somewhat darker near base, to 10 mm, margins ciliate-dentate to entire. Leaves 7--40 cm. Blade 1-pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, pinna pairs 20--50. Pinnae oblong, largest usually 4--7 mm, entire or asymmetrically lobed, lobes 1--4, broadly rounded, separated by shallow sinuses; abaxial scales completely concealing surface, ovate, usually 0.5--1 mm, ciliate with coarse marginal projections; adaxial scales sparse, deciduous, stellate to coarsely ciliate, mostly circular to elliptic, peltate, body more than 5 cells wide. Sporangia containing 32 or 64 spores.
Discussion
Astrolepis cochisensis is reported to be toxic to sheep (F. P. Mathews 1945). Three cytotypes that occupy different ranges and/or habitats have been identified and are treated here as subspecies. These include a sexual diploid (subsp. chihuahuensis ) found on calcareous substrates in the Chihuahuan Desert; an apogamous triploid (subsp. cochisensis ), which inhabits primarily calcareous substrates in the Sonoran, Mojavean, and western Chihuahuan deserts; and an apogamous tetraploid (subsp. arizonica ), which occupies primarily noncalcareous substrates in southern Arizona. Isozyme analyses suggest that subsp. cochisensis is an autotriploid derivative of the diploid subsp. chihuahuensis (D. M. Benham 1989). Both the isozymes and substrate preferences of subsp. arizonica indicate, however, that it is not a simple autotetraploid and that other taxa remain to be discovered within the Astrolepis cochisensis complex.

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