OregonFlora: Botrychium crenulatum

	Botrychium crenulatum
	crenulate moonwort, dainty moonwort
Habit	Plants 6–10(16) cm tall above ground.
Spores	45(40–48) μm.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 3 cm, green.
Trophophores	stalk (1)5(17) mm long; blade 1-pinnate; ovateoblong to linear-oblong; to 6.5 × 1.8 cm (averaging 2 cm long), yellow-green, usually with a thin, herbaceous texture; pinnae in (2)3(5) pairs, overlapping or not, spreading at nearly a right angle to rachis; fan-shaped, spanning an arc of 60–150(180)°; broadest at the outer margin, usually finely crenulate and sometimes with 1–5 incisions.
Sporophores	erect; stalk 0.5–2 times as long as the trophophore at spore release; branches well developed, usually spreading or twisted downwards.
2n	=90.

	Botrychium crenulatum
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Moist to saturated soils in or near seeps, fens, or on the margins of small streams, usually among low, dense herbaceous cover, from mid-montane to subalpine elevations. 1200–2100 m. BR, BW. CA, ID, NV, WA; western North America. Native. Botrychium crenulatum grows in more saturated substrates than most other moonworts. It is frequently confused with B. minganense, from which it can usually be distinguished by the two to five pairs of fan-shaped, spreading pinnae with finely crenulate margins, thinner texture, and spreading or downwardpointing sporophore branches. However, many plants do not exhibit all of these characters.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89 Ben Legler
Sibling taxa	B. ascendens, 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 crenulatum

crenulate moonwort, dainty moonwort

Habit

Plants 6–10(16) cm tall above ground.

Spores

45(40–48) μm.

Common stalks

well developed; greater than 3 cm, green.

Trophophores

stalk (1)5(17) mm long;

blade 1-pinnate; ovateoblong to linear-oblong; to 6.5 × 1.8 cm (averaging 2 cm long), yellow-green, usually with a thin, herbaceous texture;

pinnae in (2)3(5) pairs, overlapping or not, spreading at nearly a right angle to rachis; fan-shaped, spanning an arc of 60–150(180)°; broadest at the outer margin, usually finely crenulate and sometimes with 1–5 incisions.

Sporophores

erect;

stalk 0.5–2 times as long as the trophophore at spore release;

branches well developed, usually spreading or twisted downwards.

=90.

Botrychium crenulatum

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Moist to saturated soils in or near seeps, fens, or on the margins of small streams, usually among low, dense herbaceous cover, from mid-montane to subalpine elevations. 1200–2100 m. BR, BW. CA, ID, NV, WA; western North America. Native.

Botrychium crenulatum grows in more saturated substrates than most other moonworts. It is frequently confused with B. minganense, from which it can usually be distinguished by the two to five pairs of fan-shaped, spreading pinnae with finely crenulate margins, thinner texture, and spreading or downwardpointing sporophore branches. However, many plants do not exhibit all of these characters.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 89
Ben Legler

Sibling taxa