[Wikipedia] Description, Reproduction, Habitat: Description This plant does not have the immediately recognizable sharply pointed leaflets on its fronds that many other ferns have. Its leaves bear rounded or oval-shaped segments widely spaced along the rachis. Each segment may curl under along its edges. The leaves are green when new, then turn red, purplish, or brown. Some individuals of this species are diploid and reproduce sexually, while some are triploid or tetraploid and reproduce by apogamy (growth of a plant from a gamete without fertilization). Habitat Pellaea andromedifolia is found on rocky outcrops and dry slopes in coastal, Mojave Desert, and California chaparral and woodlands habitats. It is able to take long periods without water, when it will shrivel and appear dead. Then shortly after rainfall new growth appears quickly from the ground. It is not crown forming, but spreading slowly and forming clumps. (link added by Mary Ann Machi)