PTERIDACEAE
(Maidenhair fern Family)
Notholaena standleyi Maxon
Standley's cloak fern
( Fertile diploid)
The bright green pentagonal adaxial surface of this fern is striking, although the blades are often curled inward exposing the white to yellowish farinose abaxial surface during dry periods. Sporangia of fertile diploid ferns generally contain 64 spores, but N. standleyi is peculiar, having only 16 or 32 spores per sporangium. Sporangia appear only at vein tips near the margins of the abaxial surface of the pinnae. N. standleyi is one of three ferns in New Mexico with pentagonal blades(see Bommeria hispida, Pentagramma triangularis).
Mahoney Park, west side of the Florida Mountains 22 April 2005
Mahoney Park, west side of the Florida Mountains 22 April 2005