Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Botrychium ascendens

Botrychium biternatum

trianglelobe moonwort, upswept moonwort

southern grapefern, sparse-lobed grapefern, sparselobe grapefern
Pinnae

to 5 pairs, strongly ascending, well separated, distance between 1st and 2d pinnae not or slightly more than between 2d and 3d pairs, basal pinna pair approximately equal in size and cutting to adjacent pair, obliquely narrowly cuneate, undivided to tip, margins sharply denticulate and often shallowly incised, apex rounded, venation like ribs of fan, midrib absent.

to 7 pairs, usually remote, horizontal, distance between 1st and 2d pinnae not or slightly more than between 2d and 3d pairs, undivided except in proximal 2/3–1/2.
Trophophore

stalk 3–10 mm, 1/6 length of trophophore rachis;

blade yellow-green, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 1-pinnate, to 6 × 1.5 cm, thin but firm.

stalk 4–20 cm, 2–2.5 times length of trophophore rachis;

blade green to dark green, plane, 2–3-pinnate, to 18 × 28 cm, herbaceous.
Sporophores

2-pinnate at base of sporangial cluster, 1.3–2 times length of trophophore.

1–2-pinnate, 2–3 times length of trophophore.
Pinnules

elongate, obliquely lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, margins nearly parallel and finely denticulate, apex short-acuminate, venation pinnate.
2n

=180.

=90.

Botrychium ascendens

Botrychium biternatum
Phenology Leaves appearing in late spring to midsummer. Leaves green over winter, sporophores seasonal, new leaves appearing in late spring–early summer.
Habitat In grassy fields, widely scattered Frequent in low woods and brushy fields
Elevation 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft) 0–600 m (0–2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; MT; NV; OR; WY; BC; ON; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Botrychium ascendens is a distinctive little moonwort that grows with B. crenulatum, B. lunaria, and B. minganense. This species and B. pedunculosum are the only grapeferns that often have extra sporangia on the proximal pinnae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Botrychium biternatum often grows with B. dissectum and B. jenmanii. The name B. biternatum was misapplied by L.Underwood to B. lunarioides (W.H. Wagner Jr. 1961).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Ophioglossaceae > Botrychium > subg. Botrychium Ophioglossaceae > Botrychium > subg. Sceptridium > sect. Sceptridium
Sibling taxa
B. acuminatum, B. biternatum, B. boreale, B. campestre, B. crenulatum, B. dissectum, B. echo, B. gallicomontanum, B. hesperium, B. jenmanii, B. lanceolatum, B. lunaria, B. lunarioides, B. matricariifolium, B. minganense, B. montanum, B. mormo, B. multifidum, B. oneidense, B. pallidum, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. pinnatum, B. pseudopinnatum, B. pumicola, B. rugulosum, B. simplex, B. spathulatum, B. virginianum
B. acuminatum, B. ascendens, B. boreale, B. campestre, B. crenulatum, B. dissectum, B. echo, B. gallicomontanum, B. hesperium, B. jenmanii, B. lanceolatum, B. lunaria, B. lunarioides, B. matricariifolium, B. minganense, B. montanum, B. mormo, B. multifidum, B. oneidense, B. pallidum, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. pinnatum, B. pseudopinnatum, B. pumicola, B. rugulosum, B. simplex, B. spathulatum, B. virginianum
Synonyms Osmunda biternata, B. dissectum var. tenuifolium, B. tenuifolium
Name authority W. H. Wagner: Amer. Fern J. 76: 36, figs. 1, 2. (1986) (Savigny) L. Underwood: Bot. Gaz. 22: 407. (1896)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers