''Aspidotis carlotta-halliae'' is a species of

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

known by the common names tufted lacefern and Carlotta Hall's lace fern. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is found in the Central Coast Ranges and coastal hillsides, often on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially an ...

s. This species is a fertile

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

between ''

Aspidotis californica ''Aspidotis californica'' is a species of fern known by the common name California lacefern. It is native to California and Baja California. It grows in rock cracks and crevices in many types of habitat, including Chaparral, Yellow pine forest, ...

'' and ''

Aspidotis densa ''Aspidotis'' is a small genus of leptosporangiate ferns known commonly as laceferns. Most species are native to slopes, ridges, and rocky outcroppings, primarily in California and Mexico, although one species included in the genus by some auth ...

''. The

was named for fern collector Carlotta Case Hall, who coauthored the 1912 botanical guide ''A Yosemite Flora'' with her husband, botanist

Harvey Monroe Hall Harvey Monroe Hall (March 29, 1874 – March 11, 1932) was an American botanist particularly noted for his taxonomic work in the western United States. Hall was born in Lee County, Illinois, on March 29, 1874, and raised near Riverside, Californi ...

.H. M. Hall Biographical Notes
/ref>

Description

In appearance it is intermediate between the two other ferns. It has leathery triangular leaves divided into many pairs of leaflets, which are each subdivided into many coarse, irregularly toothed segments. The stipe is very thin and dark. The undersides of the segments are lined with sori containing

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

. It is found between to in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

. It is often found growing under rocks.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
Pteridaceae Ferns of California Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Plants described in 1957 {{Pteridaceae-stub