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Common Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria)

Common Moonwort

Overview

Common Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria) is a small, fleshy fern with a unique two-part frond: a sterile, fan-shaped blade and a fertile, grape-like spike. It is widespread in temperate grasslands.

Taxonomy

Family:	Ophioglossaceae
Genus:	Botrychium (boh-TRY-kee-ee-um)
Species:	lunaria (loo-NAIR-ee-uh)
Synonym:	Botrypus lunaria
Synonym:	Osmunda lunaria
Synonym:	Botrychium onondagense

Description

The sterile blade is 2–8 cm, pinnate with moon-shaped pinnae. The fertile spike bears two rows of spherical sporangia. The plant has a fleshy root and relies on mycorrhizal fungi.

Habitat and Cultivation

Grows in meadows, pastures, and open woods. Extremely difficult to cultivate; requires specific fungal symbionts. Best conserved in situ.

Ferns: Salvia officinalis: Common Sage, the Culinary Herb; Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis): Tough Native Shade Tree for Tough Sites; Southern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris): Delicate Beauty for Moist Shade; Spirodela polyrhiza: Giant Duckweed; Dicksonia sellowiana (Tree Fern); Leathery Grape Fern (Botrychium multifidum); American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis): Native Shrub for Berries and Blooms; Common Sage (Salvia officinalis): The Wise Herb for Kitchen and Medicine; Common Garlic (Allium sativum): The Kitchen Essential with Countless Varieties; Poet's Jasmine (Jasminum officinale): The Classic Fragrant Vine

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