Species: Botrychium minganense Victorin

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Botrychium minganense Victorin

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Ophioglossaceae

Genus:

Botrychium

Species Synonyms:

Botrychium lunaria var. minganense (Victorin) Dole
Botrychium lunaria ssp. minganense (Victorin) Calder & Taylor

Common Names:

Mingan moonwort

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon – central Alberta – Labrador, south to southern British Columbia – Nova Scotia – Newfoundland

Saskatchewan:

central to southern Saskatchewan; Lac la Ronge – Beaver Creek

Ecoregion:

Moist Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

mesic open aspen woods and ditches

Canada:

open fields and meadows, gravel slopes, and shores

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Threatened

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5T4 SI TI

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Mingan moonwort is threatened because of rarity in Saskatchewan. It occurs in a relatively large area of the province but is almost always locally sparse. No immediate threats are known but are possible in the future.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

< 25 cm

Stipe:

common stalk 3 – 11 cm long, sheath enclosing bud

Fronds:

solitary, sterile blade sessile or stalked, stalk 0 – 2 cm long, attached above the middle of the plant, blade to 2 – 10 cm long, 1 – 2.5 cm wide, oblong to linear, flat or folded only at the base, once pinnate; pinnae in up to 10 pairs, horizontal, approximate to remote, distance between first and second pinnae equal to or slightly more than between second and third pairs, basal pinnae equal in size to second pair, venation fan-like, margin entire or round-toothed, occasionally lobed; fertile stalk 2 – 9 cm long, blades 1.5 – 2.5 times as long as sterile blade, once or occasionally twice pinnate

Sporangia:

short-stalked to sessile, 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