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Pellaea andromedifolia
Pellaea andromedifolia, with the common names coffee cliffbrake and coffee fern, is a species of cliff brake fern in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. It is native to California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
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.
According to Ohlone informants, they used the plant for internal injuries, fever, and facial sores. Leaves were steeped and the resulting tea was used as a wash for facial sores. Hot leaves were held against the face in compresses. New leaves collected in early winter were collected to make a tea which was consumed. Decoctions were used for internal injuries and to cough up "bad blood." Salinan people used the plant for internal injuries as well as for the kidneys, and it is supposed by anthropologist Jan Timbrook that this may have also been practiced by Chumash people.
Purple cliffbrake · Sierra cliffbrake · Brewer's cliffbrake · Bridges' cliffbrake · Creeping Sickle Fern · Pellaea calomelanos · Sickle Fern · Smooth cliffbrake · Birdfoot cliffbrake · Dwarf Sickle Fern · Heart Fern · Button Fern
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pellaea andromedifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
