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 mormo

trianglelobe moonwort, upswept moonwort

little goblin, little goblin moonwort
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.

or lobes to 3 pairs, ascending, mostly widely separated, usually fused together in distal half of trophophore, distance between 1st and 2d pinnae not or slightly more than between 2d and 3d pairs, extremely variable in outline, linear to fan-shaped, undivided to tip, margins entire to coarsely dentate, proximal pinnae or blade tip not dentate or with 2–3 shallow, broad teeth, apex angular, venation like ribs of fan, midrib absent.
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 0.2–2.5 cm, usually 0.3–0.6 times length of trophophore rachis;

blade yellow-green to green, shiny, linear to linear-spatulate, lobed (rarely 1-pinnate), to 5 × 1 cm, very succulent.
Sporophores

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

1-pinnate, 0.2–3 cm, 0.2–3.5 times length of trophophore.
2n

=180.

=90.

Botrychium ascendens

Botrychium mormo
Phenology Leaves appearing in late spring to midsummer. Leaves appearing in late spring to fall.
Habitat In grassy fields, widely scattered Extremely sporadic, in rich northern basswood, beech, sugar maple forest
Elevation 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft) 300–600 m (1000–2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; MT; NV; OR; WY; BC; ON; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MI; MN; WI
[BONAP county 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.)

The highly seasonal appearance of Botrychium mormo is more like a fungus carpophore than a moonwort. In wet years both mature and juvenile plants are fairly easy to find in known localities; in dry years they do not appear aboveground. Botrychium mormo may be eaten and dispersed by animals. The succulent nature of the whole plant may make it attractive to herbivores, and because the sporangia do not open, passage through animal digestive tracts may be required to facilitate the release of the spores. Another unusual feature of B. mormo is the tendency for gametophytes to persist on mature sporophytes.

Of conservation concern.

(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. Botrychium
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. 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. multifidum, B. oneidense, B. pallidum, B. paradoxum, B. pedunculosum, B. pinnatum, B. pseudopinnatum, B. pumicola, B. rugulosum, B. simplex, B. spathulatum, B. virginianum
Name authority W. H. Wagner: Amer. Fern J. 76: 36, figs. 1, 2. (1986) W. H. Wagner: Amer. Fern J. 71: 26. (1981)
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