OregonFlora: Botrychium paradoxum vs. Botrychium pallidum

	Botrychium paradoxum	Botrychium pallidum
	paradox moonwort
Habit	Plants 7–15 cm tall above ground, dull green, glaucous in life.
Spores	36– 43 μm.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.
Trophophores	appearing absent, converted entirely to a second sporophore without any trace of lamina.
Sporophores	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, derived; in part; from an undescribed diploid that resembles B. montanum).

	Botrychium paradoxum	Botrychium pallidum
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion	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 91 Ben Legler
Sibling taxa	B. ascendens, B. crenulatum, B. hesperium, B. lanceolatum, B. lineare, B. lunaria, B. minganense, B. montanum, 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. 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 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 pallidum

paradox moonwort

Habit

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

Spores

36– 43 μm.

Common stalks

well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.

Trophophores

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

Sporophores

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, derived; in part; from an undescribed diploid that resembles B. montanum).

Botrychium pallidum

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

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 91
Ben Legler

Sibling taxa