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Summary

Myriopteris aurea, the golden lip fern or Bonaire lip fern, is a medium-sized fern native to the Americas, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, which are relatively lacy, its leaf is only dissected into lobed leaflets (pinnae), which are hairy both above and below. One of the cheilanthoid lip ferns, it was classified in the genus Cheilanthes as Cheilanthes bonariensis until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows on dry, rocky slopes, and ranges from the southwestern United States through Mexico, where it is common and widespread, south and east through Central and South America as far as Chile and Argentina. The common names refer to the color of the hairs on the upper surface of the leaves, and to early collections around Buenos Aires, Latinized as "Bonaire".

Description

Leaf bases are closely spaced along the horizontal rhizome, which is variously described as being 3 millimeters (0.1 in) or 4 to 8 millimeters (0.2 to 0.3 in) in diameter. The rhizome bears scales, which are linear to lanceolate, with entire (untoothed) or subentire (very slightly toothed) margins. They are bi-colored, with a shiny central stripe red-brown or shiny chestnut-brown to black in color and narrow light-brown margins, and measure 3 millimeters (0.1 in) long. They are slightly twisted and strongly pressed against the rhizome.

The fronds spring up in clusters; unlike many ferns, they do not unfold as fiddleheads (noncircinate vernation). They range from 10 to 60 centimeters (3.9 to 24 in) long, sometimes up to 75 centimeters (30 in), and are 0.5 to 3.5 centimeters (0.20 to 1.4 in) broad. The stipe (the stalk of the leaf, below the blade) represents from one-sixth to one-third of the total length of the leaf, and is 3 to 15 centimeters (1.2 to 5.9 in) long. The upper surface of the stipe is rounded and not grooved. The stipe is shiny, dark chestnut brown to...