# Smooth Cliffbrake (*pellaea glabella*)

The Smooth Cliffbrake is a small, resilient rock-dwelling fern that thrives where few other plants can survive. Often nestled tightly into the crevices of dry limestone cliffs and dolomite outcrops, this fern is highly adapted to calcareous environments. Its tough, leathery fronds and rich purplish-brown stems give it an elegant yet rugged appearance, standing as a testament to nature's ability to colonize the harshest of stone faces. As a perennial evergreen or semi-evergreen species, the Smooth Cliffbrake provides subtle green coloration to gray cliffs throughout the year. Its ability to curl up during dry spells and completely rejuvenate after rainfall makes it a fascinating subject for botany enthusiasts and hikers exploring rocky gorges.

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Snaps:** 4
- **Habitat:** Found growing directly in dry to moist crevices of calcareous cliffs, limestone outcroppings, and occasionally old mortar walls.

![Smooth Cliffbrake](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/72296/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 4.0 · [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/72296)

## Appearance

This small fern typically grows in tufts, reaching 5 to 25 centimeters in height. Its fronds are once- or twice-pinnate, displaying a distinct bluish-green color and a leathery texture. The defining feature of the Smooth Cliffbrake is its smooth, shiny, purplish-brown to black stalks that lack the prominent hairs found on related species. Spores are produced in narrow bands along the undersides of the leaf margins, which curl inward to protect them.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Polypodiopsida
- **Order:** Polypodiales
- **Family:** Pteridaceae
- **Genus:** Pellaea

## Interesting facts

- During extreme drought, this resilient fern looks dead and brown, but a single rainstorm can trigger a complete green recovery within a day.
- It is a true calciphile, which means it depends on calcium-rich rocks like dolomite or limestone to survive and grow.
- The species name 'glabella' means 'smooth' or 'hairless', referring to its glossy, hairless stems which differentiate it from other cliffbrakes.

## Special abilities

- **Extreme Desiccation Tolerance:** The fern can lose most of its water content and curl its leaves during droughts, only to uncurl and resume photosynthesis within hours of receiving rain.
- **Lithophytic Anchoring:** It utilizes highly specialized roots that can penetrate microscopic fissures in limestone, securing the plant against strong winds and erosion.
- **Apogamous Reproduction:** It can reproduce without liquid water fertilization, allowing new sporophytes to develop directly from gametophytes to adapt to dry cliff faces.

## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 5-25 cm
- **Weight:** 0.01-0.05 kg
- **Lifespan:** 5-15 years

## Diet & Feeding

As a photosynthetic plant, it manufactures its own sugars using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, while absorbing calcium and other minerals through its roots.

- **Primary Foods:** Sunlight, Carbon dioxide, Water, Limestone minerals
- **Foraging Method:** Foraging

## Ecological connections

- **Competitor:** Purple Cliffbrake (*Pellaea atropurpurea*) — Competes for narrow crevice spaces and limited water resources on calcareous rock faces.
- **Eaten by:** Grey Field Slug (*Deroceras reticulatum*) — Feeds occasionally on the young gametophytes and tender fronds in humid conditions.

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

No special safety notes yet.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Smooth Cliffbrake?

Compare frond shape, how the leaflets are arranged, the stalk, and any spore clusters you can see. A single detached leaflet often hides the plant's overall growth pattern. Fern Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Smooth Cliffbrake?

5-25 cm

### How much does Smooth Cliffbrake weigh?

0.01-0.05 kg

### How long does Smooth Cliffbrake live?

5-15 years

### What does Smooth Cliffbrake eat?

As a photosynthetic plant, it manufactures its own sugars using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, while absorbing calcium and other minerals through its roots.

### Where is Smooth Cliffbrake usually found?

Found growing directly in dry to moist crevices of calcareous cliffs, limestone outcroppings, and occasionally old mortar walls.

### How does Smooth Cliffbrake hunt?

Foraging

## Where to spot

- [Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/gibraltar-rock-state-natural-area) — Wisconsin, US · State Park
- [Mazo Beach](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/mazo-beach) — Wisconsin, US · Nature Reserve

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

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Source: [Smooth Cliffbrake: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/smooth-cliffbrake)