Cliff Brake
Pellaea truncata
Photographed in a side canyon along Cave Creek, Maricopa Co., Arizona. April 2008.
FERN: A xerophytic fern with tough fronds. Under favorable conditions fronds may reach
30 cm in length. Obscure once extended drought has set in.
UNARMED. However, the leaves are stiff and tips are sharply accuminate.
LEAVES: Twice pinnate compound leaves are bluish-gray, shiny and borne on a dark rachis.
RANGE: Emerging from shady, nearly verticle cliffs in the mountains of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico. Ranges into similar habitats in adjacent states.