Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Moonwort
Botrychium lunaria (L.) Swartz

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossaceae)
Spores: May-June
Field Marks: This fern is readily recognized by its simple, reniform (moon-shaped) leaf segments.
Habitat: Wet meadows, moist fields.
Habit: Perennial fern with an erect rhizome.
Stems: Upright, rather stout, up to 1 foot tall, smooth; buds not hairy.
Leaves: Sterile blade borne halfway up the stem, up to 5 inches long, divided into 10-16 reniform (moon-shaped) leaflets, the leaflets shallowly toothed or lobed, smooth.
Sori: Spherical, borne in a narrow spike up to 4 inches long.

Previous Species -- Triangle Moonwort (Botrychium lanceolatum )
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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/1/botrluna.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:23:33 EST
Reston, VA [vaww55]