Flora of North America species comparison

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Botrychium lunaria

botryche lunaire, common moonwort, moonwort grapefern
Pinnae

to 9 pairs, spreading, mostly overlapping except in shaded forest forms, 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, broadly fan-shaped, undivided to tip, margins mainly entire or undulate, rarely dentate, apical lobe usually cuneate to spatulate, notched, approximate to adjacent lobes, apex rounded, venation like ribs of fan, midribs absent.
Trophophore

stalk 0–1 mm;

blade dark green, oblong, 1-pinnate, to 10 × 4 cm, thick, fleshy.
Sporophores

1–2-pinnate, 0.8–2 times length of trophophore.
2n

=90.

Botrychium lunaria
Phenology Leaves appearing in spring, dying in latter half of summer.
Habitat Open fields, occasionally forests in southern occurrences
Elevation 0–3700 m (0–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; NH; NM; NV; NY; OR; PA; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Pacific Islands in New Zealand; Greenland; Eurasia; s South America; Australia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Botrychium lunaria grows with many other species of Botrychium, occasionally hybridizing with them. This species, geographically the most widespread of the moonworts, has notably uniform morphology.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Ophioglossaceae > Botrychium > subg. Botrychium
Sibling taxa
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. 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 lunaria, B. onondagense
Name authority (Linnaeus) Swartz: J. Bot. (Schrader) 1800(2): 110. (1801)
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).



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