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| Botrychium campestre
W.H. Wagner & Farrar |
|
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| TAXONOMY |
| |
| Family: |
Ophioglossaceae |
| Genus: |
Botrychium |
| |
| Species Synonyms: |
none |
| Common Names: |
prairie dunewort
Iowa moonwort
plains grapefern |
| |
| DISTRIBUTION |
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| Canada: |
southern Alberta – southern Saskatchewan |
| Saskatchewan: |
southern Saskatchewan; Fox Valley – Beechy |
| Ecoregion: |
Mixed Grassland |
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| HABITAT |
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| Saskatchewan: |
stabilized sand dune meadows and above prairie
sloughs |
| Associated Species: |
autumn dwarf gentian, blue-eyed grass, Dudley’s
rush, june grass, mat muhly, saltgrass, small leaf everlasting, tufted hairgrass |
| |
| RARITY STATUS |
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Provincial
Status According
to Harms (2003): |
Endangered |
| Nature Conservancy
Status: |
G3 N1 S1 |
Saskatchewan
Species at
Risk Status: |
Endangered |
| COSEWIC Status:
|
None |
| |
| Prairie dunewort
is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and is limited
to one region of the province. The populations are almost always locally
sparse. Possible threats have been identified for this species. |
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| SPECIES
DESCRIPTION |
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| Height: |
< 20 cm |
| Stalks: |
basal sheaths enclosing bud
|
| Fronds: |
solitary, sterile and fertile
blades arising from a common stalk; sterile blade sessile, to 4 cm long,
to 1.3 cm wide, oblong, folded longitudinally, pinnate, fleshy, with a bluish
tinge; pinnae of sterile blade in up to 5 pairs, spreading, remote, may
be webbing on central axis, basal pinnae equal in size to second pair, at
least proximal pair fan-shaped to spoon-shaped, venation fan-like, midrib
absent, margins round or square-toothed; fertile blades 1 – 1.5 times
longer than sterile blade, pinnate |
| Sporangia: |
borne laterally on branches,
round |
| Spores: |
small, yellow |
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| BOTRYCHIUM
KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN |
| |
| 1 Sterile blades 5 – 25 cm long,
triangular, 2 – 4 times pinnately compound; fertile blades may be
absent; plants over 12 cm tall |
2 |
| 1 Sterile blades 2 – 5 cm long
or absent, oblong to linear or triangular, simple to pinnate or pinnatifed;
fertile blades always present; plants less than 15 cm tall |
3 |
| |
|
2 Sterile blades thin; sheaths on
common stalk open; fertile blades, when present, arising from high ;on common
stalk; common stalk usually longer than 10 cm, hairless
|
B. virginianum |
| 2 Sterile blades herbaceous or thick
to leathery; sheaths on common stalk closed; fertile blades, when present,
arising from the basal portion of the common stalk; common stalk less than
8 cm long, somewhat hairy |
B. multifidum |
| |
|
| 3 Sterile blades linear to oblong,
simple to lobed; plants in deep shade under shrubs and trees |
B. simplex |
| 3 Sterile blades linear to triangular,
pinnate or absent; plants usually in exposed sites |
4 |
| |
|
| 4 Distance between first and second
pinnae greater than that between second and third pairs |
B. simplex |
| 4 Distance between first and second
pinnae equal to or slightly more than between second and third pairs or
sterile blade absent |
5 |
| |
|
| 5 Sterile blades present, basal pinnae
fan-shaped to spoon-shaped, midrib absent |
6 |
| 5 Sterile may be replaced by fertile
blade, basal pinnae inversely lanceolate to linear to oval, midrib present |
9 |
| |
|
| 6 Sterile blades oval to triangular |
B. simplex |
| 6 Sterile blades oblong to lance-shaped |
7 |
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| 7 Sterile blades thick and leathery,
dark greyish-green to yellowish; basal pinnae broadly fan-shaped |
B. lunaria |
| 7 Sterile blades thin (except B. campestre),
dark to light green or yellowish; basal pinnae narrowly fan-shaped or wedge-shaped
to linear |
8 |
| |
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| 8 Sterile blades folded longitudinally,
up to 5 pairs of pinnae; plants of prairies or meadows |
B. campestre |
| 8 Sterile blades flat or folded only
at the base, up to 10 pairs of pinnae; plants of woodlands |
B. minganense |
| |
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| 9 Sterile blade replaced by fertile
blade, resulting in two fertile blades |
B. paradoxum |
| 9 Sterile blade present, distinct
from fertile blade |
10 |
| |
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| 10 Sterile blades subsessile, blades
triangular; fertile blades divided equally several times, about equal to
2.5 times longer than sterile blades |
B. lanceolatum |
| 10 Sterile blades oval to oblong or
triangular; fertile blades with one main axis,
2 - 4 times longer than sterile blades |
11 |
| |
|
| 11 Sterile blade long-stalked, stalk
equal to length of blade; few spore sacs may be present on the basal pinnae
of sterile blade |
B. pedunculosum |
| 11 Sterile blade sessile to short-stalked,
stalk less than ¼ length of blade; spore sacs never present on basal
pinnae of sterile blade |
B. hesperium |
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