Pellaea mucronata var. californica
Bird's foot fern
Family: Pteridaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Bird's foot fern is a California native perennial found in central and southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, southern Eastern Sierra, and desert mountains at elevations of 1,800 to 3,000 meters in rocky or dry areas. A distinctive fern with dark green to grayish-green fronds that grow 15 to 25 centimeters long and up to 4 centimeters wide. Growing with delicate, ascending pinnae that often overlap, creating a dense and intricate leaf structure. Its two-pinnate leaves feature fertile segments that characteristically appear folded in half with recurved margins that nearly meet on the underside. The fern forms compact clusters in rocky terrain, creating elegant, feather-like arrangements of fine leaflets.
Habitat: Rocky or dry areas
Elevation: 1800-3000 m
Bioregions: c&s SNH, TR, PR, SNE, DMtns (exc Providence, New York mtns).
California counties: San Bernardino, Tulare, Riverside, Los Angeles, Inyo, Mendocino, Mariposa, Fresno, Tuolumne, Nevada, Plumas, Tehama, Placer, Butte, Yuba, Ventura, Kern, San Diego, Shasta
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.