OregonFlora: Botrychium paradoxum vs. Ophioglossaceae

	Botrychium paradoxum	Ophioglossaceae
	paradox moonwort	adder's tongue family
Habit	Plants 7–15 cm tall above ground, dull green, glaucous in life.	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	36– 43 μm.	all of 1 kind.
Gametophytes		subterranean; non-chlorophyllous.
Common stalks	well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.
Trophophores	appearing absent, converted entirely to a second sporophore without any trace of lamina.	simple to pinnately compound, rarely absent; venation reticulate or free and fan-like.
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.	simple or pinnately branched, rarely absent.
2n	=180 (allotetraploid, derived; in part; from an undescribed diploid that resembles B. montanum).

	Botrychium paradoxum	Ophioglossaceae
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.	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 91 Ben Legler	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 86
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
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: 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

paradox moonwort

adder's tongue family

Habit

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

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

36– 43 μm.

all of 1 kind.

Gametophytes

subterranean; non-chlorophyllous.

Common stalks

well developed; greater than 2 cm, green.

Trophophores

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

simple to pinnately compound, rarely absent;

venation reticulate or free and fan-like.

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.

simple or pinnately branched, rarely absent.

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

Ophioglossaceae

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.

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 91
Ben Legler

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 86

Sibling taxa