Purple Cliffbrake (Pellaea atropurpurea (L.) Link)

Also classified as Hemionitis atropurpurea (L.) Christenh..

The Cheilanthoideae subfamily of ferns is subject to considerable taxonomic uncertainty. POWO uses the name Hemionitis atropurpurea (L.) Christenh., reflecting the moving of the entire Pellaea genus into the Hemionitis genus, but we found almost no use of these newer names by other authorities, nor could we find any explanation for the reclassification. We will maintain the more widely-used scheme unless we see a compelling case to do otherwise.