OregonFlora: Botrychium hesperium vs. Ophioglossaceae

	Botrychium hesperium	Ophioglossaceae
	western moonwort	adder's tongue family
Habit	Plants 5–20 cm tall above ground.	Herbs perennial, terrestrial, forming apparently obligatory mycorrhizal relationships.
Roots		mostly unbranched, lacking root hairs.
Stems		solitary, subterranean; erect, usually unbranched, enclosed by sheathing leaf base; gemmae present or absent, formed from axillary meristems.
Leaves		in our species 1(2) per stem, usually erect, divided into a sterile, foliaceous portion (trophophore) and a fertile; spore-bearing portion (sporophore); these united at base to form a common stalk.
Sporangia		exposed or embedded, globose, 2-valved; without an annulus, 0.5–1.5 mm diameter, containing thousands of spores.
Spores	37(29–50) μm.	all of 1 kind.
Gametophytes		subterranean; non-chlorophyllous.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 3 cm, with a reddish brown stripe below the trophophore.
Trophophores	short-stalked (stalk usually shorter than distance between first and second pairs of pinnae); blade pinnate-pinnatifid, subdeltate; to 5 cm long; dull gray-green and usually appearing glaucous; pinnae ascending, usually overlapping; ovate to lanceolate, broadly attached to the rachis; broadest at or below the middle, asymmetrically lobed with basiscopic lobes enlarged; pinnae lobes with rounded apices; the margins slightly rolled; lowest pinnae often exaggerated; up to twice as long as the adjacent pinnae; sporangia rarely present on pinnae margins.	simple to pinnately compound, rarely absent; venation reticulate or free and fan-like.
Sporophores	erect with stalk up to 2 times as long as the trophophore at spore release; in larger plants becoming ternately branched with lateral branches nearly as long as main axis.	simple or pinnately branched, rarely absent.
2n	=180 (allotetraploid, derived from B. lanceolatum and an unknown diploid).

	Botrychium hesperium	Ophioglossaceae
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion	At upper montane to subalpine elevations in open, mesic meadows with low, herbaceous cover. Also in historically disturbed areas with gravelly soil, such as road shoulders, ski slopes, or mine tailings. 1400–1700 m. BW. ID, WA; western North America. Native. Unpublished forms with deeply lobed pinnae (B. hesperium var. ��fenestratum’ and B. ‘venulosum’) do not warrant taxonomic recognition.	Cosmopolitan. 7 genera; 4 genera treated in Flora. Ophioglossaceae is an ancient lineage of ferns sister to Psilotaceae. The circumscription of genera within Ophioglossaceae has been debated. Botrypus and Sceptridium are treated here as distinct from Botrychium.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 90 Ben Legler	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 86
Sibling taxa	B. ascendens, B. crenulatum, 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, 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	Local floras: CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Ophioglossaceae

western moonwort

adder's tongue family

Habit

Plants 5–20 cm tall above ground.

Herbs perennial, terrestrial, forming apparently obligatory mycorrhizal relationships.

Roots

mostly unbranched, lacking root hairs.

Stems

solitary, subterranean; erect, usually unbranched, enclosed by sheathing leaf base; gemmae present or absent, formed from axillary meristems.

Leaves

in our species 1(2) per stem, usually erect, divided into a sterile, foliaceous portion (trophophore) and a fertile; spore-bearing portion (sporophore); these united at base to form a common stalk.

Sporangia

exposed or embedded, globose, 2-valved; without an annulus, 0.5–1.5 mm diameter, containing thousands of spores.

Spores

37(29–50) μm.

all of 1 kind.

Gametophytes

subterranean; non-chlorophyllous.

Common stalks

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

Trophophores

short-stalked (stalk usually shorter than distance between first and second pairs of pinnae);

blade pinnate-pinnatifid, subdeltate; to 5 cm long; dull gray-green and usually appearing glaucous;

pinnae ascending, usually overlapping; ovate to lanceolate, broadly attached to the rachis; broadest at or below the middle, asymmetrically lobed with basiscopic lobes enlarged;

pinnae lobes with rounded apices; the margins slightly rolled; lowest pinnae often exaggerated; up to twice as long as the adjacent pinnae;

sporangia rarely present on pinnae margins.

simple to pinnately compound, rarely absent;

venation reticulate or free and fan-like.

Sporophores

erect with stalk up to 2 times as long as the trophophore at spore release; in larger plants becoming ternately branched with lateral branches nearly as long as main axis.

simple or pinnately branched, rarely absent.

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

Ophioglossaceae

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

At upper montane to subalpine elevations in open, mesic meadows with low, herbaceous cover. Also in historically disturbed areas with gravelly soil, such as road shoulders, ski slopes, or mine tailings. 1400–1700 m. BW. ID, WA; western North America. Native.

Unpublished forms with deeply lobed pinnae (B. hesperium var. ��fenestratum’ and B. ‘venulosum’) do not warrant taxonomic recognition.

Cosmopolitan. 7 genera; 4 genera treated in Flora.

Ophioglossaceae is an ancient lineage of ferns sister to Psilotaceae. The circumscription of genera within Ophioglossaceae has been debated. Botrypus and Sceptridium are treated here as distinct from Botrychium.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 90
Ben Legler

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 86

Sibling taxa