# Aspidotis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aspidotis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aspidotis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspidotis > Source revision: 1292699972 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Genus of ferns}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Aspidotis densa BB-1913.jpg | image_caption = ''[Aspidotis densa](/source/Aspidotis_densa)'' | taxon = Aspidotis | authority = ([Nutt.](/source/Thomas_Nuttall) ex [Hook.](/source/William_Jackson_Hooker)) [Copel.](/source/Edwin_Bingham_Copeland) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text. }} '''''Aspidotis''''' is a small genus of [leptosporangiate](/source/Leptosporangiate_fern) [fern](/source/fern)s known commonly as '''laceferns'''. Most species are native to slopes, ridges, and rocky outcroppings, primarily in California and Mexico,{{cite book|editor=Flora of North America Editorial Committee|title=Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms|series=Flora of North America: North of Mexico|volume=2|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=4 Nov 1993|isbn=978-0-19-508242-5|pages=170–171}} although one species included in the genus by some authorities is widely distributed in eastern Africa.{{cite book |editor-last=Beentje|editor-first=H. J.|editor-link=Henk Jaap Beentje|title=Flora of Tropical East Africa - Adiantaceae|pages=2–3|publisher=A. A. Balkema Publishers|date=1 Jun 2002|isbn=978-90-5809-410-0|ref=Beentje02|title-link=Flora of Tropical East Africa}} ==Description== Members of ''Aspidotis'' are small ferns, with shiny, tufted [fronds](/source/fronds) generally less than 35 centimeters long (although ''A. schimperi'' may be larger). Fertile leaves have false [indusia](/source/indusium) formed by the leaves' inrolled margins, which partially conceal the spore-bearing [sori](/source/sorus).{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=A. Reid|title=The Californian species of Aspidotis|journal=Madroño|volume=23|issue=1|pages=15–24|year=1975}} ==Taxonomy== The taxonomy of laceferns has been considerably refined since they were first described in the late 1800s. Species currently placed in ''Aspidotis'' were originally assigned to a [section](/source/section_(botany)) of ''[Hypolepis](/source/Hypolepis_(plant))'', then to ''[Cheilanthes](/source/Cheilanthes)''. [David Lellinger](/source/David_B._Lellinger) established ''Aspidotis'' as a distinct genus based on characteristic features of its false indusia and its leaves, including their shiny surface,{{cite journal|last=Lellinger|first=David B.|author-link=David B. Lellinger|title=A Note on ''Aspidotis''|journal=American Fern Journal|volume=58|issue=3|pages=140–141|year=1968|doi=10.2307/1546553|jstor=1546553}} although as late as the 1990 publication of the [Kubitzki system](/source/Kubitzki_system), these ferns were sometimes still included in ''Cheilanthes''.{{cite book|editor1-last=Kramer|editor1-first=K.U.|editor2-last=Green|editor2-first=P.S.|editor3-last=Kubitzki|editor3-first=K.|title=Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms|series=The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants|volume=1|publisher=Springer|date=Jan 1990|page=242|isbn=978-3-540-51794-8}} ===Species=== {{As of|2020|January}}, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized five species, including one identified as a fertile [interspecific hybrid](/source/hybrid_(biology)).{{cite journal|last1=Wagner Jr.|first1=W.H.|author-link1=Warren H. Wagner|last2=Gilbert|first2=Elizabeth F.|title=An Unusual New Cheilanthoid Fern from California|journal=American Journal of Botany|volume=44|issue=9|date=Nov 1957|pages=738–743|doi=10.2307/2438394|jstor=2438394}} *''[Aspidotis californica](/source/Aspidotis_californica)'' (Nutt. ex Hook.) Nutt. ex Copel. – California lacefern *''[Aspidotis carlotta-halliae](/source/Aspidotis_carlotta-halliae)'' (Wagner & E. F. Gilbert) Lellinger – Carlotta Hall's lacefern or tufted lacefern, a fertile hybrid of ''A. californica'' and ''A. densa'', [endemic](/source/endemism) to California *''[Aspidotis densa](/source/Aspidotis_densa)'' (Brack.) Lellinger – cliffbrake or Indian's dream *''[Aspidotis meifolia](/source/Aspidotis_meifolia)'' (D.C.Eaton) Pic.Serm. – endemic to Mexico *''[Aspidotis schimperi](/source/Aspidotis_schimperi)'' (Kunze) Pic. Serm. – the African species Other species of plants commonly known as laceferns are not part of ''Aspidotis'' and are often not closely related. ''[Microlepia strigosa](/source/Microlepia_strigosa)'' is from a different [order](/source/order_(biology)) of ferns, and ''[Asparagus setaceus](/source/Asparagus_setaceus)'' is not a fern at all. ==Ecology== Ferns in this genus grow in a variety of conditions, from low woodland slopes, to [chaparral](/source/chaparral), to higher-elevation ridges, to marginal habitats like rocky crevices and the bases of boulders. Some laceferns show an affinity for [serpentine soil](/source/serpentine_soil). In particular, [disjunct populations](/source/disjunct_distribution) of ''A. densa'' in eastern North America are [edaphic endemics](/source/edaphic).{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Tanner|last2=Rajakaruna|first2=Nishanta|title=''Adiantum viridimontanum'', ''Aspidotis densa'', ''Minuartia marcescens'', and ''Symphyotrichum rhiannon'': Additional Serpentine Endemics from Eastern North America|journal=Northeastern Naturalist|volume=16|issue=sp5|year=2009|pages=111–120|doi=10.1656/045.016.0509|s2cid=54871497|url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bio_fac/514|url-access=subscription}} ''A. carlotta-halliae'' and the West Coast populations of ''A. densa'' are commonly associated with these [ultramafic](/source/ultramafic) soils but are not restricted to them.{{cite journal|last=Howell|first=John Thomas|author-link=John Thomas Howell|title=The Endemic Pteridophytes of the California Floral Province|journal=American Fern Journal|volume=50|issue=1|date=Jan–Mar 1960|pages=15–25|doi=10.2307/1545239|jstor=1545239}}{{cite journal|last1=Safford| first1=H. D.|last2=Viers |first2=J. H. |last3=Harrison |first3=S. P. |title=Serpentine Endemism in the California Flora: A Database of Serpentine Affinity|journal=Madroño|volume=52|issue=4|pages=222–257|year=2005 |doi=10.3120/0024-9637(2005)52[222:seitcf]2.0.co;2| s2cid=84632195| url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/169127}} ==Etymology== Not all authorities agree on the exact etymology of ''Aspidotis''. In all cases, the name is derived from [Greek](/source/Greek_language), and refers to the distinctive shield-like false indusium found especially in ''A. californica''. Some authors suggest ασπιδοτες (shield-bearer) as the intended origin, while others claim ασπιδος-ωτος (shield-eared).{{cite book|last=Gledhill|first=David|title=The Names of Plants|url=https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746|url-access=limited|edition=4th|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746/page/n68 59]|date=17 Mar 2008|isbn=978-0-521-86645-3}} ==References== {{Reflist|refs= {{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Hassler |first1=Michael |last2=Schmitt |first2=Bernd |date=November 2019 |contribution=Oeosporangium |title=Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World |at=8.11 |url=https://worldplants.webarchiv.kit.edu/ferns/ |accessdate=2020-01-01 |name-list-style=amp |archive-date=2017-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902225743/https://worldplants.webarchiv.kit.edu/ferns/ |url-status=dead }} }} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2290670}} Category:Pteridaceae Category:Fern genera --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Aspidotis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspidotis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspidotis?action=history)). 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