Pellaea mucronata

(D. C. Eaton) D. C. Eaton

Tea fern, Bird's foot fern

PteridaceaeLeavesSpice/Beverage

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fronds - tea, Leaves - tea

Dried fronds are steeped in hot water for 15-20 minutes to make tea.

Where to Find It

It is a Mediterranean climate plant.

Mexico, North America, USA,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, St Vincent

How to Identify

A fern of the Pteridaceae family found in Mediterranean climate regions. The dried fronds are traditionally steeped in hot water for 15-20 minutes to produce a tea.

Medicinal Uses

The thin coating of waxy material on the leaves is probably composed of terpenoids. Traces of galangin are also present.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Pellaea mucronata is a species of fern known by the common name bird's foot cliffbrake. It is native to much of California, and parts of Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja California, where it grows in various types of rocky habitat. The subspecies californica is limited to California, while ssp. mucronata can be found outside that state's borders. Each leaf is 7 to 45 centimeters long and is borne on a thin petiole. It is composed of a thin, straight, brown rachis lined with widely spaced leaflets. The leaflets are divided into small narrow terminal segments, or these may be subdivided into another set of segments. The smallest segment measures up to about a centimeter long and is green to dark purplish in color. The edges may be rolled under. The sporangia are located under the edges.

Notes

There are about 80 Pellaea species. They are also put in the family Sinopteridaceae and Adiantaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Birdfoot cliffbrake, Pacific Coast Fern, Calaguala

Allosorus mucronatus D. C. EatonCheilanthes mucronata (D. C. Eaton) T. MoorePellaea longumucronata Hook.Pellaea ornithopus Hook.Pellaea wrightiana var. longimucronata (Hook.) Davenp.

References (4)

Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 230
Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 626
Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 382
Saunders, C.F., 1948, Edible and Useful Wild Plants. Dover. New York. p 166 (As Pellaea ornithopus)