OregonFlora: Botrychium ascendens vs. Botrychium pedunculosum

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium pedunculosum
	upswept moonwort	stalked moonwort
Habit	Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.	Plants 5–13(20) cm tall above ground.
Spores	(40)44–47(54) μm.	36–43 μm.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.	well developed; greater than 3 cm, with a prominent reddish brown stripe below trophophore.
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.	stalk 0.8–2.5 cm long; the stalk usually longer than distance between first and second pairs of pinnae; blade pinnate-pinnatifid; ovate-oblong to deltate-oblong; to 4.5 × 2.5 cm; dull gray-green and glaucous; pinnae ascending, approximate; the basal pinnae asymmetrically lobed, angular; broadest at or below the middle; upper pinnae becoming spatulate; pinnae lobes and apices usually acute; the margins slightly rolled; sporangia usually present on margins of basal pinnae.
Sporophores	stiffly erect; stalk 0.5–1 times as long as the trophophore at spore release, rarely longer; branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.	erect with stalk 0.5–1.5 times as long as the trophophore at spore release; in larger plants becoming ternately branched with lateral branches nearly as long as main axis.
2n	=180 (allotetraploid, apparently derived from B. crenulatum and B. lineare).	=180 (allotetraploid, derived from B. lanceolatum and an unknown diploid).

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium pedunculosum
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 meadows with low, herbaceous or grassy cover, gravelly soil, brushy areas, and in duff under mature Thuja plicata, at upper montane to subalpine elevations. 1200–1800 m. BW. CA, ID, WA; north to AK, northeast to MT, disjunct in Quebec. Native. Shade-grown plants often lack marginal sporangia on the trophophore. Conversely, occasional individuals of other pinnate- pinnatifid species may possess marginal sporangia.
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. paradoxum, 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, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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 pedunculosum

upswept moonwort

stalked moonwort

Habit

Plants 5–12(20) cm tall above ground.

Plants 5–13(20) cm tall above ground.

Spores

(40)44–47(54) μm.

36–43 μm.

Common stalks

well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.

well developed; greater than 3 cm, with a prominent reddish brown stripe below trophophore.

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.

stalk 0.8–2.5 cm long; the stalk usually longer than distance between first and second pairs of pinnae;

blade pinnate-pinnatifid; ovate-oblong to deltate-oblong; to 4.5 × 2.5 cm; dull gray-green and glaucous;

pinnae ascending, approximate; the basal pinnae asymmetrically lobed, angular; broadest at or below the middle; upper pinnae becoming spatulate;

pinnae lobes and apices usually acute; the margins slightly rolled;

sporangia usually present on margins of basal pinnae.

Sporophores

stiffly erect;

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

branches mostly simple, strongly ascending.

erect with stalk 0.5–1.5 times as long as the trophophore at spore release; in larger plants becoming ternately branched with lateral branches nearly as long as main axis.

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

=180 (allotetraploid, derived from B. lanceolatum and an unknown diploid).

Botrychium ascendens

Botrychium pedunculosum

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 meadows with low, herbaceous or grassy cover, gravelly soil, brushy areas, and in duff under mature Thuja plicata, at upper montane to subalpine elevations. 1200–1800 m. BW. CA, ID, WA; north to AK, northeast to MT, disjunct in Quebec. Native.

Shade-grown plants often lack marginal sporangia on the trophophore. Conversely, occasional individuals of other pinnate- pinnatifid species may possess marginal sporangia.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89
Ben Legler

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 91
Ben Legler

Sibling taxa