Pellaea mucronata

Bird's-foot fern

Family: Pteridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bird's-foot fern is a California native perennial found in rocky habitats of the state's mountainous regions. Producing delicate green to purplish fronds from spring to fall, this fern has distinctive narrow triangular to oblong blade structures with small linear segments ending in sharp points. Growing with short-creeping rhizomes and branched stems, the plant forms compact clusters with slender stems less than 2 millimeters wide. Its finely divided leaves feature segments 2 to 6 millimeters long, typically linear in shape with dark brown scale-like coverings along the rhizome. The fern's intricate leaf structure allows it to thrive in rocky, well-drained environments, creating dense, textured ground cover.

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Yuba, San Diego, Tulare, Tehama, Placer, Riverside, Plumas, Santa Clara, Tuolumne, Sonoma, San Mateo, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Orange, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Alameda, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Mono, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Amador, Nevada, Butte, Sutter, El Dorado, Siskiyou, Marin, Solano, Sierra, Inyo, Trinity, Stanislaus, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.