|
| Botrychium hesperium
(Maxon& Clausen) W.H. Wagner & Lellinger |
|
| |
| TAXONOMY |
| |
| Family: |
Ophioglossaceae |
| Genus: |
Botrychium |
| |
| Species Synonyms: |
Botrychium lunaria ssp. occidentale
A. & D. Löve & Kapoor
Botrychium matricariifolium
var. hesperium (Maxon & Clausen) Broun
Botrychium matricariifolium
ssp. hesperium Maxon & Clausen |
| Common Names: |
western moonwort
western chamomile-leaved grapefern |
| |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| |
| Canada: |
southern Alberta – central Saskatchewan,
western Ontario |
| Saskatchewan: |
southwestern and east-central Saskatchewan; Cypress
Hills, Porcupine Hills – Reindeer Lake |
| Ecoregion: |
Churchill River Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, Cypress
Upland |
| |
| HABITAT |
| |
| Saskatchewan: |
open woods, dry bogs, grassland depressions, moist
prairie, lake shores and north-facing outcrops |
| Associated Species: |
golden sedge, northern grass of Parnassus, spurred-gentian
|
| |
| RARITY STATUS |
| |
Provincial
Status According
to Harms (2003): |
Threatened |
| Nature Conservancy
Status: |
G3 S1 |
Saskatchewan
Species at
Risk Status: |
None |
| COSEWIC Status:
|
None |
| |
| Western moonwort
is threatened in Saskatchewan because it is rare and is limited to two,
disjunct regions of the province. The populations are almost always locally
sparse. No immediate threats have been identified for this species. |
| |
| SPECIES
DESCRIPTION |
| |
| Height: |
< 15 cm |
| Stipes: |
basal sheaths enclosing bud
|
| Fronds: |
solitary, sterile blade sessile
or short-stalked, stalk to 1/4 length of blade, blade to 5 cm long and 4
cm wide, oblong to linear to triangular, 1 – 2 times pinnate, dull
greyish-green; pinnae on sterile blade up to 6 pairs, ascending, approximate
or overlapping, distance between first and second pinnae equal to or slightly
larger than distance between second and third pairs, basal pinnae larger
and more divided than second pair; fertile blade 2 – 3 times as long
as the sterile blade, 1 – 3 times pinnate, with one main axis |
| Sporangia: |
borne laterally on branches,
round |
| Spores: |
small, yellow |
| |
| 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 |
| |
|
| 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 |
| |
|
| 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 |
| |
|
| 9 Sterile blade replaced by fertile
blade, resulting in two fertile blades |
B. paradoxum |
| 9 Sterile blade present, distinct
from fertile blade |
10 |
| |
|
| 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 |
|
