Coville's lip fern

Leaf bases are closely spaced along the rhizome, which is typically 2 to 4 millimeters (0.08 to 0.2 in) in diameter. It is covered with persistent scales about 2 millimeters (0.08 in) long, which are linear to narrowly lanceolate, straight or slightly twisted, and tightly appressed (pressed against the surface of the rhizome). They are a uniform dark brown to black in color, or in some cases have paler, narrow margins of a light brown color, and lack marginal teeth. The fronds spring up in clusters; they do not unfold as fiddleheads like typical ferns (noncircinate vernation). When mature, they are 5 to 30 centimeters (2.0 to 12 in) long, and 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8 to 2 in) (or even up to 6 centimeters (2 in)) wide. The stipe (the stalk of the leaf below the blade) is 3 to 16 centimeters (1.2 to 6.3 in) long and less than 2 millimeters (0.08 in) wide, rounded on the upper surface, dark brown to dark reddish-brown or dark purple in color. It is covered with white to red-brown, lanceolate to linear scales up to 3 millimeters (0.1 in) long. …

M. covillei ranges south from California into Baja California and Baja California Sur (with a disjunct presence in southern Oregon) and east to Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. It grows in crevices and atop ledges, and on rocky ground at the base of boulders. It tolerates both sun and shade. It is more common on igneous rocks, such as granite, but is also associated with sandstone boulders. It is found at altitudes from 100 to 2,500 meters (330 to 8,200 ft).

While globally apparently secure (G4), M. covillei is threatened in the northern part of its range. NatureServe considers it to be critically imperiled (S1) in Oregon, imperiled (S2) in Utah, and vulnerable (S3) in Nevada.

Myriopteris covillei can be cultivated, and should be grown under high light in well-drained garden soil. The soil should be dry to moist-dry.