OregonFlora: Botrychium ascendens

	Botrychium ascendens
	upswept moonwort
Habit	Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.
Spores	(40)44–47(54) μm.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.
Trophophores	sessile or short-stalked; the stalk occasionally to 2 cm long; blade 1-pinnate, narrowly oblong-triangular; to 6 × 2 cm, yellow-green and shiny in life; pinnae to 6 pairs, strongly ascending, narrowly fan-shaped, spanning an arc of less than 90°; broadest at the outer margin, usually coarsely toothed and with 2–5 lobes; lower pinnae often bearing marginal sporangia.
Sporophores	stiffly erect; stalk 0.5–1 times as long as the trophophore at spore release, rarely longer; branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.
2n	=180 (allotetraploid, apparently derived from B. crenulatum and B. lineare).

	Botrychium ascendens
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Open, well-drained areas and historically disturbed sites with a sparse to dense cover of grasses, forbs, and small shrubs or conifer saplings, such as montane or subalpine meadows, avalanche meadows, road shoulders, ski areas, and mining disturbances. 1500–2000 m. BW. CA, ID, NV, WA; scattered in western and northeastern North America. Native. Botrychium ascendens is easily confused with B. crenulatum, B. lineare, and B. minganense.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89 Ben Legler
Sibling taxa	B. crenulatum, B. hesperium, B. lanceolatum, B. lineare, B. lunaria, B. minganense, B. montanum, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. pinnatum, B. pumicola, B. simplex
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Botrychium ascendens

upswept moonwort

Habit

Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.

Spores

(40)44–47(54) μm.

Common stalks

well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.

Trophophores

sessile or short-stalked; the stalk occasionally to 2 cm long;

blade 1-pinnate, narrowly oblong-triangular; to 6 × 2 cm, yellow-green and shiny in life;

pinnae to 6 pairs, strongly ascending, narrowly fan-shaped, spanning an arc of less than 90°; broadest at the outer margin, usually coarsely toothed and with 2–5 lobes; lower pinnae often bearing marginal sporangia.

Sporophores

stiffly erect;

stalk 0.5–1 times as long as the trophophore at spore release, rarely longer;

branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.

=180 (allotetraploid, apparently derived from B. crenulatum and B. lineare).

Botrychium ascendens

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Open, well-drained areas and historically disturbed sites with a sparse to dense cover of grasses, forbs, and small shrubs or conifer saplings, such as montane or subalpine meadows, avalanche meadows, road shoulders, ski areas, and mining disturbances. 1500–2000 m. BW. CA, ID, NV, WA; scattered in western and northeastern North America. Native.

Botrychium ascendens is easily confused with B. crenulatum, B. lineare, and B. minganense.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89
Ben Legler

Sibling taxa