North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Pellaea atropurpurea

Pellaea atropurpurea (L.) Link

purple cliff-brake

Image ID: 96024
Image by: Fleming, Gary P.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PEAT2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pellaea atropurpurea
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PELLA
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Pellaea
GENUS AUTHORITY: Link
GENUS COMMON: Cliffbrake
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 40 species, mostly in the Western Hemisphere.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Gastony (1988); Gastony, Yatskievych, & Dixon (1992); Windham in FNA (1993b); Tryon, Tryon, & Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Gastony & Rollo (1998); Heafner (2001). Key based in part on Heafner (2001).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: PTERID
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Pteridaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: E.D.M. Kirchner 1831
FAMILY COMMON: Maidenhair Fern Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 40 genera and about 1000 species. Here circumscribed to include Vittariaceae (see Smith et al. 2006). This family may be further subdivided, into families Adiantaceae (Adiantum, Vittaria), Sinopteridaceae (Myriopteris, Notholaena, Astrolepis, Pellaea), Cryptogrammaceae (Cryptogramma), Pteridaceae (Pteris), and Parkeriaceae (Acrostichum, Ceratopteris).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Grusz & Windham (2013); Lellinger (1985); Windham in FNA (1993b); Tryon, Tryon, & Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Crane (1997). {add for FL: Acrostichum aureum, Adiantum melanoleucum, Adiantum villosum, Pityrogramma trifoliata, Pteris bahamensis, Pteris grandifolia, Pteris plumula}

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Fern

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION: Evergreen

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: May-Sep

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
				x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
											x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
3035	1988-0118			View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PEAT2
USDA Common Name: Purple Cliffbrake
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY), CAN (ON, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
15620	S3	S3	G5	G5	W1

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pellaea atropurpurea
COMMON NAME: Purple Cliff-brake
SYNONYMY: [= Ar, C, F, FNA, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, Tn, Va, W, WH3, WV; = P. atropurpurea var. atropurpurea - G; = P. ×atropurpurea]
PHENOLOGY: May-Sep.
HABITAT: Outcrops of limestone and other rocks (usually either calcareous or mafic), rarely on masonry walls (Wieboldt 1995).
COMMENTS: This species is an apogamously-reproducing triploid, either an allopolyploid derived from the hybridization of a sexually-reproducing diploid species and sexually-reproducing tetraploid, or an autopolyploid of an undiscovered or extinct species. Gastony, Yatskievych, & Dixon (1992) provide convincing evidence that modern P. glabella is not one of the parental taxa, contrary to the suggestion by Lellinger (1985). P. atropurpurea is widespread in e. North America, from NH, VT, NY, MN, SD, SK, and AB south to FL, AL, TN, AR, TX, NM, AZ, Mexico, and Guatemala.
RANGE MAP: Pellaea atropurpurea.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Pteridaceae E.D.M. Kirchner 1831 (Maidenhair Fern Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 40 genera and about 1000 species. Here circumscribed to include Vittariaceae (see Smith et al. 2006). This family may be further subdivided, into families Adiantaceae (Adiantum, Vittaria), Sinopteridaceae (Myriopteris, Notholaena, Astrolepis, Pellaea), Cryptogrammaceae (Cryptogramma), Pteridaceae (Pteris), and Parkeriaceae (Acrostichum, Ceratopteris).
REFERENCE: Grusz & Windham (2013); Lellinger (1985); Windham in FNA (1993b); Tryon, Tryon, & Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Crane (1997). {add for FL: Acrostichum aureum, Adiantum melanoleucum, Adiantum villosum, Pityrogramma trifoliata, Pteris bahamensis, Pteris grandifolia, Pteris plumula}

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Pellaea Link (Cliffbrake)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 40 species, mostly in the Western Hemisphere.
REFERENCE: Gastony (1988); Gastony, Yatskievych, & Dixon (1992); Windham in FNA (1993b); Tryon, Tryon, & Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990); Gastony & Rollo (1998); Heafner (2001). Key based in part on Heafner (2001).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Pellaea atropurpurea in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Pellaea atropurpurea in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Pellaea atropurpurea in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Pellaea atropurpurea in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Pellaea atropurpurea in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Pellaea atropurpurea

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 96024 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 0 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 0 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)