Myriopteris parryi, formerly known as Cheilanthes parryi, is a species of lip fern known by the common name Parry's lip fern. Description Myriopteris parryi is a small tufted fern growing from a short creeping rhizome with medium brown scales, most with a darker thread-like mid-stripe. The leaf is usually 6-15 cm long (rarely up to 25 cm) and 1-3 cm wide. The leaf blades are oblong-lanceolate, twice pinnate, and densely wooly. The stipe (leaf stalk) is no more than 1 mm wide and has hairs that range in length, are bent, and are variably appressed to the stipe. Leaf segments are small, nearly round, and flat, with tangled hairs about 4 mm long densely on both surfaces. The adaxial (upper) leaf hairs are silver to white and the abaxial (lower) leaf hairs are tan to brown or golden. The pale hairs on top of the leaflets are often thick enough to make the plant look quite woolly from above. On the underside of the leaf the dark colored sporangia may be buried beneath the coating of hairs. Like many Myriopteris ferns, when conditions are dry the fronds may curl up with their abaxial surface exposed. Range and Habitat This fern is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and Baja California, where it grows in rocky crevices in the mountains and deserts. Taxonomy Based on plastid DNA sequence analysis, Myriopteris parryi is part of the lanosa clade in the Myriopteris genus, with Myriopteris rawsonii its closest analyzed relative. References Works cited External links Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Myriopteris parryi'' Cheilanthes parryi — UC Photo gallery parryi Ferns of California Ferns of Mexico Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Baja California Flora of Nevada Flora of Utah Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of Arizona Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Ferns of the United States Plants described in 1875