Pellaea andromedifolia

Pellaea andromedifolia
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Apparently Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Genus: Pellaea
Species:
P. andromedifolia
Binomial name
Pellaea andromedifolia
(Kaulfuss) Fée

Pellaea andromedifolia, with the common names coffee cliffbrake and coffee fern, is a species of cliff brake fern in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.[2] It is native to California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.

Description

This plant does not have the immediately recognizable sharply pointed leaflets on its fronds that many other ferns have. Its leaves bear rounded or oval-shaped segments widely spaced along the rachis. Each segment may curl under along its edges. The leaves are green when new, then turn red, purplish, or brown.

Some individuals of this species are diploid and reproduce sexually, while some are triploid or tetraploid and reproduce by apogamy (growth of a plant from a gamete without fertilization).

Habitat

Pellaea andromedifolia is found on rocky outcrops and dry slopes in coastal, Mojave Desert, and California chaparral and woodlands habitats. It is able to take long periods without water, when it will shrivel and appear dead. Then shortly after rainfall new growth appears quickly from the ground. It is not crown forming, but spreading slowly and forming clumps.

Uses

According to Ohlone informants, they used the plant for internal injuries, fever, and facial sores. Leaves were steeped and the resulting tea was used as a wash for facial sores. Hot leaves were held against the face in compresses. New leaves collected in early winter were collected to make a tea which was consumed. Decoctions were used for internal injuries and to cough up "bad blood."[3] Salinan people used the plant for internal injuries as well as for the kidneys,[4] and it is supposed by anthropologist Jan Timbrook that this may have also been practiced by Chumash people.[5]

Culture

Californio settlers named the plant calahuala,[3] a Quechua name meaning "juvenile decoration" which was applied throughout Latin America to certain ferns, usually Campyloneurum angustifolium and Phlebodium decumanum, which had similar medicinal uses to P. andromedifolia.[6][7] Indigenous informants from Ohlone and Salinan communities used the name when describing their own medicinal use of the plant.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. ↑ Christenhusz et al., 2011 Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Xian-Chun Zhang & Herald Schneider: "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns," Phytotaxa, 19: 7-54 (18 Feb. 2011)
  3. 1 2 3 Bocek, Barbara R. (1984). "Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, Based on Collections by John P. Harrington". Economic Botany. 38 (2): 247. ISSN 0013-0001.
  4. 1 2 Garriga, Andreu (1978). Weber, Francis J (ed.). Andrew Garriga's compilation of herbs & remedies used by the Indians & Spanish Californians : together with some remedies of his own experience. California: Archdiocese of Los Angeles. pp. 14, 23–24, 31–33.
  5. ↑ Janice, Timbrook; et al. (Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History) (2007). Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant knowledge among the Chumash people of southern California (1st ed.). Berkeley, California: Heyday. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9781597140485. OCLC 77011598.
  6. ↑ Mannise, Raul (2026-06-12). "Calaguala. 7 Propiedades medicinales y contraindicaciones" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  7. ↑ ASALE (2026-06-23). "calaguala | Diccionario de americanismos". «Diccionario de americanismos» (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-08-26.


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