Notholaena

Notholaena, 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 wax 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.