Notholaena

Notholaena (from Ancient Greek νόθο(ς) + χλαῖνα), cloak fern, is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. Ferns of this genus are mostly epipetric (growing on rock) or occurring in coarse, gravelly soils, and are most abundant and diverse in the mountain ranges of warm arid or semiarid regions. They typically have a creeping or erect rhizome and leaves that are pinnatifid to pinnate-pinnatifid with marginal sori protected by a false indusium formed from the reflexed margin of the leaf. Members of Notholaena also have a coating of whitish or yellowish farina (a powdery secretion that prevents desiccation) on the surfaces of the leaves. The farina is often limited to the abaxial (lower) leaf surface, but may occur on the adaxial (upper) leaf surface as well. Members of the related Pentagramma genus have a similar lower leaf-surface farina.

The similar genus Argyrochosma also has farinose leaves, but in that genus the ultimate segments of the leaves have entire margins and *are distinctly stalked, whereas in Notholaena the ultimate segments are usually lobed or pinnatifid and sessile or subsessile. Notholaena has in the past been used as a "catch-all" genus for a wide variety of species that did not fit well in other arid fern genera but it has more recently been defined in a much narrower sense, making the genus much more morphologically and evolutionarily coherent. The genera Argyrochosma and Astrolepis were recently segregated from Notholaena, and other former members of Notholaena are now in the genus Cheilanthes.

Species
, the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World recognized the following species:


 * Notholaena affinis (Mett.) T.Moore
 * Notholaena aliena Maxon
 * Notholaena aschenborniana Klotzsch
 * Notholaena aurantiaca Eaton
 * Notholaena aureolina Yatsk. & Arbeláez
 * Notholaena brachycaulis Mickel
 * Notholaena brachypus (Kunze) J.Sm.
 * Notholaena brevistipes Mickel
 * Notholaena buchtienii Rosenst.
 * Notholaena californica D.C.Eaton
 * Notholaena candida (M.Martens & Galeotti) Hook.
 * Notholaena cantangensis R.M.Tryon
 * Notholaena cubensis Weath. ex R.M.Tryon
 * Notholaena ekmanii Maxon
 * Notholaena eriophora Fée
 * Notholaena fraseri (Mett.) Baker
 * Notholaena galapagensis Weath. & Svenson ex Svenson
 * Notholaena galeottii Fée
 * Notholaena geraniifolia St.-Hil. ex Weath.
 * Notholaena goyazensis Taub.
 * Notholaena grayi Davenp.
 * Notholaena greggii (Mett. ex Kuhn) Maxon
 * Notholaena hassleri Weath.
 * Notholaena hieronymi (Herter) comb. ined.
 * Notholaena hypoleuca Kunze
 * Notholaena jacalensis Pray
 * Notholaena jaliscana Yatsk. & Arbeláez
 * Notholaena lemmonii D.C.Eaton
 * Notholaena leonina Maxon
 * Notholaena meridionalis Mickel
 * Notholaena mollis Kunze
 * Notholaena montielae Yatsk. & Arbeláez
 * Notholaena neglecta Maxon
 * Notholaena nigricans (Willd.) Desv.
 * Notholaena obducta (Mett.) Baker
 * Notholaena ochracea (Hook.) Yatsk. & Arbeláez
 * Notholaena pohliana Kunze
 * Notholaena revoluta A.Rojas
 * Notholaena rigida Davenp.
 * Notholaena rosei Maxon
 * Notholaena schaffneri (E.Fourn.) Underw.
 * Notholaena solitaria R.M.Tryon
 * Notholaena standleyi (Kümmerle) Maxon
 * Notholaena sulphurea (Cav.) J.Sm.
 * Notholaena trichomanoides (L.) R.Br.
 * Notholaena venusta Brade
 * Notholaena weatherbiana R.M.Tryon