Botrychium campestre

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Botrychium campestre
Botrychium campestre - NPS Photo.jpg
Status TNC G3.svg
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Ophioglossales
Family: Ophioglossaceae
Genus: Botrychium
Species:
B. campestre
Binomial name
Botrychium campestre
W.H. Wagner & Farrar [1]

Botrychium campestre is a fern species in Ophioglossaceae, commonly called prairiemoonwort, prairie dunewort, Iowa moonwort, or plains grapefern. It was first discovered in 1982 and described a few years later.

Contents

Description

Botrychium campestre is a small herbaceous perennial plant growing 5 to 10 cm tall; producing a fleshy textured single leaf (frond). Plants arise from a cluster of fleshy roots that have gemmae or gemma-like structures. The top of the leaf is the fertile spore-bearing portion and the lower part is the sterile photosynthetic portion, which is pinnately compound with typically five paired, broad pinnae. [2] Plants produce the above-ground frond in May and June and go dormant in early summer.

Habitat

Botrychium campestre is found growing in dry prairies, [2] and perched dunes. Until its discovery in 1982 it was not generally known that Botrychium spp. (moonworts) occurred in prairies. [3] The dominant species found along with this fern include clump-forming grasses such as Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium (little bluestem), Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem), and Bouteloua curtipendula var. curtipendula (side oats gramma). [3]

Distribution

Botrychium campestre is endemic to the upper great lakes region of the United States and western Iowa, and western Minnesota, ranging into Nebraska, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with isolated disjunct occurrences known in New York and eastern Canada. [4] It is listed as an endangered species in Saskatchewan Canada, where it is found growing in mixed grasslands on stabilized sand dune meadows and above prairie sloughs. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophioglossaceae</span> Family of ferns

Ophioglossaceae, the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is the only family in the order Ophioglossales, which together with the Psilotales is placed in the subclass Ophioglossidae. The Ophioglossidae are one of the groups traditionally known as eusporangiate ferns. Members of the family differ from other ferns in a number of ways. Many have only a single fleshy leaf at a time. Their gametophytes are subterranean and rely on fungi for energy.

<i>Botrychium</i> Genus of ferns in the family Ophioglossaceae

Botrychium is a genus of ferns, seedless vascular plants in the family Ophioglossaceae. Botrychium species are known as moonworts. They are small, with fleshy roots, and reproduce by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf, the trophophore, is sterile and fernlike; the other, the sporophore, is fertile and carries the clusters of sporangia or spore cases. Some species only occasionally emerge above ground and gain most of their nourishment from an association with mycorrhizal fungi.

<i>Asplenium platyneuron</i> Species of fern

Asplenium platyneuron, commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy stipe and rachis, which support a once-divided, pinnate leaf. The fertile fronds, which die off in the winter, are darker green and stand upright, while the sterile fronds are evergreen and lie flat on the ground. An auricle at the base of each pinna points towards the tip of the frond. The dimorphic fronds and alternate, rather than opposite, pinnae distinguish it from the similar black-stemmed spleenwort.

<i>Sceptridium</i> Genus of ferns

Sceptridium is a genus of seedless vascular plants in the family Ophioglossaceae, closely allied to the genus Botrychium. It is also closely related to the genus Botrypus. Sceptridium species are commonly called the grape-ferns.

<i>Andropogon gerardi</i> Species of grass

Andropogon gerardi, commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot.

<i>Schizachyrium scoparium</i> Species of grass

Schizachyrium scoparium, commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a species of North American prairie grass native to most of the contiguous United States as well as a small area north of the Canada–US border and northern Mexico. It is most common in the Midwestern prairies and is one of the most abundant native plants in Texas grasslands.

<i>Botrychium pumicola</i> Western North American species of moonwort

Botrychium pumicola, with the common name pumice moonwort, is a rare fern.

<i>Sceptridium multifidum</i> Species of fern

Sceptridium multifidum is a fern species in the Ophioglossaceae, known by the common names leathery grapefern and leathery moonwort.

<i>Botrychium ascendens</i> North American species of moonwort

Botrychium ascendens is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common names triangle-lobe moonwort and upswept moonwort. It is native to North America from British Columbia to northern California as well as parts of eastern Canada. It lives in different habitat types, including grassy riverside areas. This is very small plant growing from an underground caudex and sending one yellow-green leaf above the surface of the ground. The leaf is up to 6 centimeters tall and is divided into a sterile and a fertile part. The sterile part of the leaf has fan-shaped or wedge-shaped leaflets. The fertile part of the leaf is very different in shape, with tiny grapelike clusters of sporangia by which it reproduces.

<i>Botrychium crenulatum</i> North American species of moonwort

Botrychium crenulatum is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common names scalloped moonwort and dainty moonwort. It is native to North America from British Columbia to California to Wyoming, where it is uncommon throughout most of its range, appearing incidentally at scattered spots on wet meadows in coniferous forests and marshy areas such as swamps. This is very small plant growing from an underground caudex and sending one thin, shiny, yellow-green leaf above the surface of the ground. The leaf is up to about 6 centimeters tall and is divided into a sterile and a fertile part. The sterile part of the leaf has veined, fan-shaped leaflets with wrinkly edges. The fertile part of the leaf is very different in shape, with tiny grapelike clusters of sporangia by which it reproduces.

<i>Botrychium lunaria</i> Worldwide temperate species of moonwort

Botrychium lunaria is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common name moonwort or common moonwort. It is the most widely distributed moonwort, growing throughout the Northern Hemisphere across Eurasia and from Alaska to Greenland, as well as temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere.

<i>Botrychium minganense</i> North American species of moonwort

Botrychium minganense is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common name Mingan moonwort. It is native to North America from Alaska and northern Canada to Arizona, where it is uncommon throughout most of its range, appearing at scattered spots in coniferous forests and marshy areas such as swamps. This is very small plant growing from an underground caudex and sending one thin leaf above the surface of the ground. The leaf is up to 10 centimeters tall and is divided into a sterile and a fertile part. The sterile part of the leaf has fan-shaped or spoon-shaped leaflets. The fertile part of the leaf is very different in shape, with grapelike clusters of sporangia by which it reproduces.

<i>Botrychium montanum</i> North American species of moonwort

Botrychium montanum is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common names western goblin and mountain moonwort. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California to Montana, where it grows in the dark understory of coniferous forests and other moist wooded areas. This is very small plant growing from an underground caudex and sending one thin gray-green leaf above the surface of the ground. The leaf is less than 8 centimeters tall and is divided into a sterile and a fertile part. The sterile part of the leaf has irregularly shaped angled leaflets. The fertile part of the leaf is very different in shape, with grapelike clusters of sporangia by which it reproduces.

<i>Sceptridium dissectum</i> Species of fern

Sceptridium dissectum is a common fern in the family Ophioglossaceae, occurring in eastern North America. Like other plants in this group, it normally only sends up one frond per year. It has long been the subject of confusion because the frond presents in one of two forms, either the normal form that resembles other plants in the genus, or the skeletonized form.

<i>Lespedeza leptostachya</i> Species of plant

Lespedeza leptostachya is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names prairie lespedeza and prairie bush-clover. It occurs in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The flowers are creamy-white to purplish and arranged into a narrow terminal spikes.

<i>Botrychium matricariifolium</i> Temperate Northern Hemisphere species of moonwort

Botrychium matricariifolium is a species of fern in the Ophioglossaceae family. It is referred to by the common names chamomile grape-fern, daisyleaf grape-fern, and matricary grape-fern. It is native to Europe and parts of eastern North America, including eastern Canada and parts of the United States.

<i>Botrychium paradoxum</i> North American species of moonwort

Botrychium paradoxum is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common name peculiar moonwort. It is native to North America, where there are scattered occurrences in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

<i>Sceptridium oneidense</i> Species of fern

Sceptridium oneidense, the blunt-lobed grapefern, is a fern species in the family Ophioglossaceae.

References

  1. "Botrychium campestre W.H. Wagner & Farrar". www.worldfloraonline.org. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  2. 1 2 Barbara Coffin; Lee Pfannmuller (1988). Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna. U of Minnesota Press. p. 60. ISBN   978-0-8166-1689-3.
  3. 1 2 "Botrychium campestre : Prairie Moonwort | Rare Species Guide". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  4. "Botrychium campestre W.H. Wagner & Farrar prairie moonwort" (PDF). Michigan Natural Features Inventory. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-09-13.
  5. Herbarium, SASK (2008-05-30). "Virtual Herbarium of Plants at Risk in Saskatchewan: A Natural Heritage". www.usask.ca. Retrieved 2020-12-08.