OregonFlora: Botrychium ascendens vs. Botrychium paradoxum

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium paradoxum
	upswept moonwort	paradox moonwort
Habit	Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.	Plants 7–15 cm tall above ground, dull green, glaucous in life.
Spores	(40)44–47(54) μm.	36– 43 μm.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.	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.	appearing absent, converted entirely to a second sporophore without any trace of lamina.
Sporophores	stiffly erect; stalk 0.5–1 times as long as the trophophore at spore release, rarely longer; branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.	stiffly erect, slightly unequal in length, nearly sessile or with stalks up to 50% the entire sporophore length at spore release; branches much reduced and usually less than 5 mm long, often appearing absent.
2n	=180 (allotetraploid, apparently derived from B. crenulatum and B. lineare).	=180 (allotetraploid, derived; in part; from an undescribed diploid that resembles B. montanum).

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium paradoxum
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[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.	Mesic subalpine meadows, usually among grasses, sedges, and low forbs, but occasionally in denser herbaceous cover or under trees. 1500–1800 m. BW. CA, ID, WA; northwestern North America. Native. Botrychium paradoxum is unique in having two sporophores and no trophophore. However, other species occasionally produce forms with the trophophore partly or completely transformed into a second sporophore. These usually have sporophores of clearly unequal lengths or with elongate branches, and often occur as isolated individuals among normal, trophophorebearing plants. As currently circumscribed, B. paradoxum contains two distinct genotypes.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89 Ben Legler	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 91 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	B. ascendens, B. crenulatum, B. hesperium, B. lanceolatum, B. lineare, B. lunaria, B. minganense, B. montanum, 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	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 paradoxum

upswept moonwort

paradox moonwort

Habit

Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.

Plants 7–15 cm tall above ground, dull green, glaucous in life.

Spores

(40)44–47(54) μm.

36– 43 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.

appearing absent, converted entirely to a second sporophore without any trace of lamina.

Sporophores

stiffly erect;

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

branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.

stiffly erect, slightly unequal in length, nearly sessile or with stalks up to 50% the entire sporophore length at spore release;

branches much reduced and usually less than 5 mm long, often appearing absent.

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

=180 (allotetraploid, derived; in part; from an undescribed diploid that resembles B. montanum).

Botrychium ascendens

Botrychium paradoxum

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[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.

Mesic subalpine meadows, usually among grasses, sedges, and low forbs, but occasionally in denser herbaceous cover or under trees. 1500–1800 m. BW. CA, ID, WA; northwestern North America. Native.

Botrychium paradoxum is unique in having two sporophores and no trophophore. However, other species occasionally produce forms with the trophophore partly or completely transformed into a second sporophore. These usually have sporophores of clearly unequal lengths or with elongate branches, and often occur as isolated individuals among normal, trophophorebearing plants. As currently circumscribed, B. paradoxum contains two distinct genotypes.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89
Ben Legler

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 91
Ben Legler

Sibling taxa