Burke: Botrychium ascendens vs. Botrychium pinnatum

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium pinnatum
	upswept moonwort	northwestern moonwort, St. John
General		Terrestrial perennials up to 15 cm, from 10 or fewer yellow to brown roots 0.5-1.5 mm in diameter at 1 cm from base.
Leaves		Trophophore blade bright and shiny, oblong-deltate, 1-2-pinnate, up to 8 cm long and 5 cm broad, stalk 0-2 mm; trophophore pinnae in up to 7 pairs, slightly ascending, space between 1st and 2nd pinnae equal to or slightly greater than the spaces between 2nd and 3rd pairs, basal pinna pair approximately same size and cutting as adjacent pair, obliquely ovate to lanceolate-oblong to spatulate, lobed deeply and regularly or pinnulate, lobed to apex, margins entire to very shallowly scalloped, apex truncate to slightly acute, venation pinnate; sporophores 2-pinnate, 1-2 times the length of the trophophore.
Spores		Sporangium nearly completely exposed, borne in 2 rows on pinnate sporophore branches; spore surfaces wrinkled and somewhat warty.

	Botrychium ascendens	Botrychium pinnatum
Habitat	Montane to subalpine meadows.	Moist subalpine meadows to closed forests, often near seeps.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	B. crenulatum, B. hesperium, B. lanceolatum, B. michiganense, B. minganense, B. montanum, B. neolunaria, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. pinnatum, B. simplex, B. viride	B. ascendens, B. crenulatum, B. hesperium, B. lanceolatum, B. michiganense, B. minganense, B. montanum, B. neolunaria, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. simplex, B. viride
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, 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 pinnatum

upswept moonwort

northwestern moonwort, St. John

General

Terrestrial perennials up to 15 cm, from 10 or fewer yellow to brown roots 0.5-1.5 mm in diameter at 1 cm from base.

Leaves

Trophophore blade bright and shiny, oblong-deltate, 1-2-pinnate, up to 8 cm long and 5 cm broad, stalk 0-2 mm; trophophore pinnae in up to 7 pairs, slightly ascending, space between 1st and 2nd pinnae equal to or slightly greater than the spaces between 2nd and 3rd pairs, basal pinna pair approximately same size and cutting as adjacent pair, obliquely ovate to lanceolate-oblong to spatulate, lobed deeply and regularly or pinnulate, lobed to apex, margins entire to very shallowly scalloped, apex truncate to slightly acute, venation pinnate; sporophores 2-pinnate, 1-2 times the length of the trophophore.

Spores

Sporangium nearly completely exposed, borne in 2 rows on pinnate sporophore branches; spore surfaces wrinkled and somewhat warty.