Pentagramma rebmanii

Rebman's silverback fern, Rebman's Silverback Fern

Family: Pteridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Rebman's silverback fern is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in southern San Diego County in seasonally moist, shaded, rocky slopes at elevations of 450 to 1,250 meters. This distinctive fern features a rhizome with unique white-scaled tips and blade surfaces covered in sparse to dense white exudate. Growing with ternate leaf structures where lower pinnae are approximately as wide as long and range 2 to 5 centimeters in length, the fern has deeply lobed pinnae with asymmetrical basal configurations. Its leaf blades are not sticky on the upper surface but display intricate white powdery coating, particularly on the undersides. The fern's complex leaf architecture, with pinnae that are deeply pinnately lobed almost to the point of being one-pinnate, makes it a distinctive species in its habitat.

Habitat: Seasonally moist, shaded, rocky slopes

Elevation: 450-1250 m

Bioregions: s PR (s San Diego Co.)

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