Golden lip fern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Golden lip fern |
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| Myriopteris aurea growing in Peru, showing pinnate-pinnatifid leaves and hairs on both surfaces | |
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Myriopteris
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| Species: |
aurea
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The golden lip fern, also known as the Bonaire lip fern, is a medium-sized fern found in the Americas. Its scientific name is Myriopteris aurea. This fern is part of the Pteridaceae family.
Unlike many ferns in its group, its leaves are not deeply cut. They have lobed leaflets, called pinnae, which are hairy on both the top and bottom. For a long time, this fern was known as Cheilanthes bonariensis. But in 2013, scientists decided that the Myriopteris group was different enough to be its own genus again. This fern often grows on dry, rocky slopes. You can find it from Mexico and the southwestern United States all the way south to Chile and Argentina. It is very common in Mexico.
Contents
What Does the Golden Lip Fern Look Like?
The golden lip fern grows from a horizontal stem called a rhizome. This rhizome is usually about 3 millimeters (0.1 in) to 8 millimeters (0.3 in) thick. It has scales that are shiny and dark, with light brown edges. These scales are about 3 millimeters (0.1 in) long and lie flat against the rhizome.
Fern Fronds and Stems
The fern's leaves, called fronds, grow in groups. They do not unroll like typical fern fiddleheads. Fronds can be from 10 to 60 centimeters (3.9 to 24 in) long, sometimes even up to 75 centimeters (30 in). They are about 0.5 to 3.5 centimeters (0.20 to 1.4 in) wide.
The stipe, which is the stalk of the leaf below the main blade, is about one-sixth to one-third of the frond's total length. It measures 3 to 15 centimeters (1.2 to 5.9 in) long. The stipe is shiny and dark, from chestnut brown to black. It is covered with straight, white to tan hairs, about 2 millimeters (0.08 in) long.
Leaf Blades and Hairs
The leaf blades are long and narrow, or shaped like a spear. They are "pinnate-pinnatifid," meaning they are cut into deeply lobed sections called pinnae. This is less cut than most other Myriopteris ferns. The blade is about 1 to 4 centimeters (0.4 to 2 in) wide.
The main stem of the leaf blade, called the rachis, has many soft hairs but no scales. There are usually 15 to 44 pairs of pinnae. Each pinna has 3 to 8 pairs of lobes. These lobes can be cut shallowly or deeply, sometimes almost three-quarters of the way to the pinna's central vein. The lowest pinnae are a bit smaller than the ones above them. The pinnae gradually get smaller towards the tip of the frond.
The leaf tissue feels like parchment or leather. The top surface of the pinnae has scattered to many stiff, flat hairs. These hairs are one-celled and about 2 millimeters (0.08 in) long, with a pale golden-tan color. The bottom surface of the pinnae is also covered in thick, matted hairs. These hairs can be white, especially when young, or rusty red. They do not curl up when the fern dries out.
Reproduction and Spores
On fertile fronds, the sori (clusters of spore cases) are found at the ends of veins near the leaf's edge. They form a nearly continuous line along the margin. The edge of the leaf curls back slightly over the sori, but it does not form a distinct protective cover. This curled margin is about 0.05 to 0.25 millimeters (0.0020 to 0.0098 in) wide.
Each sporangium (spore case) holds 32 dark brown to black spores. Most golden lip ferns reproduce without fertilization, a process called apogamy. This means they can produce new plants from spores without needing two parents.
Similar Ferns
The golden lip fern looks most like M. yatskievychiana, which is found only in Sonora, Mexico. M. yatskievychiana is smaller and has dense white hairs on the underside of its leaves, not rusty ones. These two species are special because their leaves are only pinnate-pinnatifid, while most other Myriopteris species have much more divided leaves.
The golden lip fern can also look a bit like some Astrolepis species, like A. sinuata. However, Astrolepis ferns have star-shaped scales, not the simple hairs found on Myriopteris aurea.
How the Golden Lip Fern Got Its Name
The golden lip fern was first described in 1804 by Jean Louis Marie Poiret. He named it Pteris aurea. The name aurea means "golden" in Latin, which likely refers to the "yellow, almost golden" hairs on the top of its leaves.
Over the years, this fern has had many different scientific names. In 1810, Carl Ludwig Willdenow described a similar fern as Acrostichum bonariense, named after Buenos Aires. Later, in 1822, Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link described it again as Cheilanthes ferruginea. The name ferruginea means "rusty-reddish," probably for the color of the hairs on the underside of the leaves.
Scientists often got confused because different ferns looked similar or had similar names. For example, in 1825, Carl Borivoj Presl tried to combine some of these names under Notholaena rufa. The name rufa also means "reddish."
Changing Classifications
In 1953, George R. Proctor moved the species to the genus Cheilanthes, calling it Cheilanthes bonariensis. However, many scientists still preferred to keep it in Notholaena.
Later, scientists like Rolla M. Tryon Jr. and Alice Tryon studied ferns closely. They found that the old ways of classifying Notholaena and Cheilanthes were not perfect. This was because many ferns living in dry places had developed similar features, even if they weren't closely related. This is called convergent evolution.
Modern Classification
Thanks to new methods like studying DNA (molecular phylogenetics), scientists could better understand how ferns are related. In 2013, Amanda Grusz and Michael D. Windham brought back the genus Myriopteris for a group of ferns that used to be in Cheilanthes. Since the name aurea was not already used in Myriopteris, they renamed the fern Myriopteris aurea.
The common names "golden lip fern" and "Bonaire lip fern" come from the old scientific names given by Poiret and Willdenow. "Lip fern" refers to how the spore cases are located at the edge, or "lip," of the leaf. It has also been called "golden cloak fern" or "slender cloak fern."
Where the Golden Lip Fern Lives
The golden lip fern grows all over Mexico, except for the Tabasco and Yucatan Peninsula areas. It is the most common fern in Mexico. Its range extends north into the United States, in Arizona, New Mexico, and Trans-Pecos Texas.
To the east, you can find it in the Greater Antilles and Venezuela. To the south, it grows through Central America and along the Andes Mountains in South America. It reaches as far south as Chile and Argentina, and also grows in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Habitat
This fern likes dry, rocky slopes, cliffs, soil banks, and shrubby hillsides. It can grow on many different types of rocks, but it is less common on limestone. You can find it at elevations from 600 to 3,800 meters (2,000 to 12,000 ft) high.
Growing and Using the Golden Lip Fern
You can grow Myriopteris aurea in garden soil that is moist to dry, especially if you add sand. The soil needs to drain water well, and the fern needs a lot of light. A gardener named George Schneider wrote in 1892 that it was "an old inhabitant of our gardens," meaning it was a popular plant to grow.
In 1898, a botanist named Edward Palmer found this fern being sold at a market in Saltillo, Mexico. People there made a special tea from it to treat "pain in the stomach" and "coughs."
