Botrychium lanceolatum (Gmel.) Angstr.
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Ophioglossaceae
Genus: Botrychium
 
Species Synonyms: none
Common Names: lanceleaf grapefern
lanceleaf moonwort
triangle moonwort
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: Yukon Territory – western Mackenzie District, south to British Columbia – Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan: central Saskatchewan; Buffalo Narrows – Brockelbank Hill
Ecoregion: Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: open woods and grassy slopes
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Endangered
Nature Conservancy Status:
G5 S1
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Lanceleaf grapefern is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and is limited to two general locations of the province. The populations are almost always locally sparse. No immediate threats have been identified for this species.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: < 15 cm, stout and fleshy
Fronds: solitary, sterile blade sessile or short-stalked, stalk 0 – 1 mm long, attached above the middle of the plant, blade to 4.5 cm long, to 4 cm wide triangular, 1 – 2 times pinnate, dull greyish-green; pinnae on sterile blade lobed, up to 5 pairs, ascending, approximate, distance between first and second pinnae equal to or slightly larger than distance between second and third pairs; fertile blade 1 – 2.5 times as long as the sterile blade, 1 – 3 times pinnate, divided into several equal branches
Sporangia: crowded 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