Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (10/20/20):
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
NEW! Click to go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more in Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas.
Learn more about Purple Cliffbrake from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Pellaea atropurpurea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The global flora: a practical guide to vascular plant species of the world (Christenhusz, Fay, & Byng, 2018)
Hemionitis atropurpurea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-04-001:
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pellaea atropurpurea
COMMON NAME:
Purple Cliffbrake
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm090404_211
April Walker County GA
Pigeon Mountain
Blade leathery with mostly opposite pinnae: upper undivided, lower divided, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm090404_311
April Walker County GA
Pigeon Mountain
)
JK Marlow jkm140418_287
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_655
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Margins of fertile pinnae inrolled, sori borne beneath. No true indusium, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_atropurpurea_5
June
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (10/20/20):
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Pellaea atropurpurea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The global flora: a practical guide to vascular plant species of the world (Christenhusz, Fay, & Byng, 2018)
Hemionitis atropurpurea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-04-001:
Pellaea atropurpurea
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pellaea atropurpurea
1040
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common in GA Mountains, uncommon in NC Mtns, rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC
Habitat: Outcrops of limestone and other rocks (usually either calcareous, subcalcareous, or mafic), rarely on masonry walls (Wieboldt 1995), per Weakley's Flora
NEW! Click here to see a range map (and maybe identification notes) from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Evergreen
2-pinnate at base, 1-pinnate at apex
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia p062
- The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas p272
- Ferns of the Smokies p51
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p111
- Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America p180