Bommeria

Plants terrestrial. Stems prostrate, long-creeping, often branched [short, seldom branched]; scales pale brown to yellowish, lanceolate, concolored, margins entire. Leaves monomorphic, scattered, 4–30 cm. Petiole chestnut brown to dark purple, rounded or with single groove adaxially, indument of scales and/or trichomes, especially proximally and distally, with single vascular bundle. Blade pentagonal, pedately divided into 3 segments, deeply pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous, abaxially with scales, unicellular coiled trichomes, and unicellular needlelike trichomes, adaxially dull, not striate, with unicellular needlelike trichomes; rachis straight. Segments of blade sessile, 1–3(–5) mm wide, distal segment 1–2-pinnatifid in proximal portion, pinnatifid in distal portion; proximal segments usually connected to distal by narrow wing along rachis, inequilaterally elongate-deltate, proximal basiscopic portion elongate, 1–2-pinnatifid; margins not recurved to form false indusia. Veins in segments obscure, free to anastomosing, pinnately branched and divergent distally. False indusia absent. Sporangia borne along veins, covering most veins or somewhat marginally restricted, containing 64 [32] spores, paraphyses and glands absent. Spores brown, globose, trilete, exospore smooth, perispore surfaces crested or reticulate, equatorial flange absent. x = 30.

Distribution

North America, Mexico, Central America.

Discussion

Species 5 (1 in the flora).

Selected References

Gastony, G. J. and C. H. Haufler. 1976. Chromosome numbers and apomixis in the fern genus Bommeria. Biotropica 8: 1--11.

Haufler, C. H. 1979. A biosystematic revision of Bommeria. J. Arnold Arbor. 60: 445--476.

Lower Taxa

Bommeria hispida