Myriopteris rufa, commonly known as Eaton's lip fern, is a small to medium-sized fern of Mexico and the southwestern United States, with outlying populations in Costa Rica and the Appalachian Mountains. The leaf is about three times divided into oblong or round bead-like segments, which are covered in a thick mat of reddish-brown hair below and are variably hairy above. Broad scales on the leaf axis distinguish it from woolly lip fern (M. tomentosa). One of the cheilanthoid lip ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes, as Cheilanthes eatonii, until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows in rocky habitats, most frequently on limestone but also sometimes on basalt or shale. The common name honors Daniel Cady Eaton, who helped distinguish it from other lip ferns.
Botanical profile.
- Genus
- Hemionitis
- Family
- Pteridaceae
