Pteris cretica

Cretan brake

Family: Pteridaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Cretan brake is a naturalized perennial fern found in southern California coastal regions, San Francisco Bay Area, and San Gabriel Mountains in disturbed places at elevations below 500 meters. With a slender, short-creeping rhizome, this fern grows 15 to 70 centimeters tall with olive-green fronds that are predominantly one-pinnate in structure. Its leaves feature proximal pinnae larger than others, with one to three deep lobes that resemble smaller leaflets. The fern's fronds have one to five pairs of pinnae, with the terminal pinna distinctly larger than subterminal pinnae. Its stipe (leaf stalk) is typically longer than the blade and remains nearly smooth except at the base.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: Reported from SnFrB, SCo, SnGb

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