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• Botrychium simplex

Botrychium simplex — least moonwort

Facts

The fronds of least moonwort are less dissected and lobed than in other species, hence the specific epithet (simplex). However, this species is, in other respects, highly variable.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Growth form

  Life form

  the plant is herbaceous and terrestrial

  Life stage

  the plant is visible as a typical leaf-bearing fern (sporophyte)

  Spore-bearing leaflets

  the spore-bearing fronds are dramatically different from the sterile fronds

• Leaves

  Features of leaves

  there are no special features on the leaves

  Leaf blade length

  0.5–2 cm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blades are long and very narrow (linear)
  • the leaf blades are longer than wide, with roughly parallel sides (oblong)
  • the leaf blades are roughly triangular
  • the leaf blades are widest above the base, then taper broadly towards the tip (ovate)

  Leaf blade tip shape

  the tip of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade width

  At least 0.2 cm

  Leaf divisions

  • the leaf blade is compound (divided into leaflets)
  • the leaf blade is entire (without lobes or dissections)
  • the leaf blade is lobed

  Leaf lifespan

  the leaves drop off in winter

  Leaf stalk color

  • green
  • yellow to brown

  Leaf stalk hairs

  there are no hairs on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk length

  15–130 mm

  Leaf stalk relative length

  the leaf stalk is more than three quarters as long as the blade

  Leaf stalk scale location

  there are no scales on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk scales

  there are no scales on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk vessels

  1 bundle that is circular, oval, or V-shaped

  Leaf vein branching

  the secondary veins of the leaf blade branch dichotomously (two equal branches at each branch point)

  Leaf vein tips

  the veins go all the way to the edge of the leaf blade

  Leaflet relative size

  • the bottom leaflets are about half as long as, to slightly longer than, the leaflets from the middle of the frond
  • the bottom leaflets are at least one and a half times as long as the leaflets from the middle of the frond

  Leaflet stalks

  • the leaflets are stalked
  • the leaflets do not have stalks

  Lobe or leaflet length

  2–64 mm

  Lobe or leaflet pairs

  1–7

  Lobe or leaflet shape

  • the lobe or leaflet is roughly fan-shaped (flabellate)
  • the lobe or leaflet is roughly triangular with the stalk in the center of the widest side (broad-triangular)

  Lobe or leaflet width

  2–17 mm

  Plant growth form

  the leaves grow on a stalk that also holds the sporophore, or spore-bearing leaf

  final leaf segment margin

  the topmost lobe or leaflet of the leaf blade has a smooth or lobed edge

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Spores or spore cones

  Sorus features

  there are no special features on the sorus

  Sorus shape

  there are no sori, or they are concealed in leaf segments or hardened, capsule-like structures derived from a modified leaflet

  Sporangia location

  the spores are formed on a stalk (sporangiophore)

  Sporangium type

  the spores are enclosed in a hardened, capsule-like structure (sporocarp)

  Spore forms

  there is only one type of spore present

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae