Cryptogramma

Cryptogramma
Cryptogramma acrostichoides on Mount Rainier
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Subfamily: Cryptogrammoideae
Genus: Cryptogramma
R.Br.
Type species
Cryptogramma acrostichoides
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Phorolobus Desvaux 1827

Cryptogramma is a genus of ferns known commonly as parsley ferns or rockbrakes. They are one of the three genera in the subfamily Cryptogrammoideae of the family Pteridaceae. Cryptogramma ferns can be found in temperate regions on several continents worldwide. These ferns have two kinds of leaves which often look so different that at first glance they appear to belong to different plants. The fertile leaves have long, narrow, bumpy segments with undersides covered thickly in sporangia. The edges of the segments may curl back to cover the sporangia, forming a false indusium. The sterile leaves have thinner, wider segments which may be rounded and resemble the leaves of parsley. These ferns grow in rocky areas, often in crevices and cracks, particularly on mountain scree.

Distribution

Species in this genus are distributed widely over the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with one species in the temperate Southern Hemisphere in Chile and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Cryptogramma crispa in Norway

Eight species are accepted by the Plants of the World Online (POWO) database:

Two other species, Cryptogramma bithynica S.Jess., L.Lehm. & Bujnoch and Cryptogramma raddeana Fomin, are accepted by some authors, but are treated as a synonym of C. crispa, and a subspecies of C. brunoniana, respectively, by POWO.

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of Cryptogramma
Cryptogramma

C. stelleri (S.G.Gmel.) Prantl (fragile rockbrake, Steller's rockbrake, slender rockbrake)

C. fumariifolia (Phil. ex Baker) Christ

C. brunoniana Wallich ex Hooker & Greville

C. acrostichoides Brown (American rockbrake)

C. sitchensis (Ruprecht) Moore (Sitka rockbrake)

C. cascadensis Alverson (Cascade rockbrake)

C. gorovoii Vaganov & Shmakov

C. bithynica (Jessen, L.Lehm. & Bujnoch)

C. crispa (von Linné) Brown ex Hooker (parsley fern)

References

  1. ↑ Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Schneider, Harald (18 February 2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 7–54. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2. ISSN 1179-3163. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cryptogramma R.Br". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
  3. ↑ "Ferns and Lycophytes List". Plant List. 2026-05-20. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
  4. ↑ Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.
  5. ↑ "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.7.0 (GenBank release 261). 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  1. ↑ Enter Cryptogramma in the search box, and see taxa labelled 'Valid'.