Compilation
Notholaena californica

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Name

Identification
Isotype of Notholaena californica D.C. Eaton [family SINOPTERIDACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Windham, M.D., 1993
Related name
  • Notholaena candida
  • Notholaena californica

Flora

Entry for Notholaena californica D. C. Eaton [family ADIANTACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 2,
Names
Notholaena californica D. C. Eaton [family ADIANTACEAE], Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 10: 27. 1883
Aleuritopteris cretacea (Liebmann) E. Fournier [family ADIANTACEAE]
Cheilanthes deserti Mickel [family ADIANTACEAE]
Chrysochosma californica (D. C. Eaton) Pichi-Sermolli [family ADIANTACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Michael D. Windham
Information
Stem scales weakly bicolored, margins brown, very narrow and poorly defined, thin, ciliate-denticulate. Leaves 4--20 cm. Petiole brown, equal to or somewhat longer than blade, rounded adaxially, bearing scattered glands and a few scales near base. Blade broadly pentagonal, 3-pinnate, 1--2 times longer than wide, abaxially with conspicuous white or yellow farina, scales absent, adaxially glandular; basal pinnae much larger than adjacent pair, strongly inequilateral, proximal basiscopic pinnules greatly enlarged. Ultimate segments sessile to subsessile, narrowly adnate to costae or free; segment margins recurved but rarely concealing sporangia. Sporangia containing 32 spores.
Discussion
Notholaena californica comprises two distinct chemotypes, recognizable by farina color, that are treated here as subspecies. These white and yellow forms are strikingly different in chemical composition of the farina (E. Wollenweber 1984), and they are rarely, if ever, found growing at the same locality. Gene flow between the chemotypes in the region of sympatry (southern California) is prevented because both are apogamous in this area. The recent discovery that plants of N . californica subsp. californica from Arizona are pentaploids (M. D. Windham, unpublished data) suggests that this species has a complex evolutionary history that cannot be resolved until sexually reproducing (64-spored) progenitors are found.

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