Botrychium

Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Pteridophyta
Classis: Psilotopsida
Ordo: Ophioglossales
Familia: Ophioglossaceae
Genus: Botrychium
Species: B. acuminatum - B. arisanense - B. ascendens - B. australe - B. biforme - B. biternatum - B. boreale - B. campestre - B. chamaeconium - B. crenulatum - B. daucifolium - B. decompositum - B. decurrens - B. dissectum - B. dusenii - B. echo - B. formosanum - B. gallicomontanum - B. hesperium - B. japonicum - B. javanicum - B. jenmanii - B. lanceolatum - B. lanuginosum - B. lineare - B. longipedunculatum - B. lunaria - B. lunarioides - B. manshuricum - B. matricariifolium - B. microphyllum - B. minganense - B. modestum - B. montanum - B. mormo - B. multifidum - B. nipponicum - B. officinale - B. oneidense - B. pallidum - B. paradoxum - B. parvum - B. pedunculosum - B. pinnatum - B. pseudopinnatum - B. pumicola - B. rugulosum - B. schaffneri - B. simplex - B. socorrense - B. spathulatum - B. strictum - B. subbifoliatum - B. sutchuanense - B. ternatum - B. tibeticum - B. triangularifolium - B. underwoodianum - B. virginianum - B. yunnanense

Name

Botrychium Swartz 1801

Synonyms

* Botrypus Richard
* Holubiella Skoda
* Japanobotrychium Masamune
* Osmundopteris Milde
* Phyllotrichium Prantl
* Sceptridium Lyon

References

* Family Ophioglossaceae, genus Botrychium; world species list.[1]

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Rautenfarne
Lietuvių: Varpenis
Nederlands: Maanvaren
日本語: ハナワラビ属
Русский: Гроздовник
Suomi: Noidanlukot

Moonworts are seedless vascular plants of the genus Botrychium, sensu stricto. They are small, with fleshy roots, and reproduce by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf, the trophophore, is sterile and fernlike; the other, the sporophore, is fertile and carries the clusters of sporangia or spore cases. Some species only occasionally emerge above ground and gain most of their nourishment from an association with mycorrhizal fungi. They are unusual among tracheophytes ("higher plants") in that at least some species produce the sugar trehalose.

The circumscription of Botrychium is disputed between different authors; some botanists include the genera Botrypus and Sceptridium within Botrychium, while others treat them as distinct. The latter treatment is provisionally followed here.

Selected species
Botrychium lunarioides in beech/oak forest in northern Florida; March 2003.

* Botrychium acuminatum – pointed moonwort
* Botrychium ascendens W.H.Wagner – upswept moonwort, triangle-lobed moonwort, upward-lobed moonwort
* Botrychium australe
* Botrychium boreale – northern moonwort
* Botrychium campestre – prairie moonwort, prairie dunewort
* Botrychium crenulatum W.H.Wagner – crenulate moonwort
* Botrychium hesperium – western moonwort
* Botrychium lanceolatum – lance-leaved grapefern, triangle moonwort, triangle grapefern
* Botrychium lineare – narrow-leaved grapefern
* Botrychium lunaria (L.) Sw. – common moonwort, grapefern moonwort
* Botrychium lunarioides
* Botrychium matricariifolium – daisy-leaved moonwort, matricary grapefern, matricary moonwort, chamomile grapefern
* Botrychium minganense Victorin – mingan's moonwort
* Botrychium montanum W.H.Wagner – mountain moonwort
* Botrychium mormo – little goblin moonwort
* Botrychium paradoxum – peculiar moonwort
* Botrychium pedunculosum – stalked moonwort
* Botrychium pinnatum H. St.John – northern moonwort
* Botrychium pseudopinnatum – false northwestern moonwort, false daisy-leaved grapefern
* Botrychium simplex – little grapefern, least moonwort, least grapefern
* Botrychium socorrense
* Botrychium spathulatum – spatulate moonwort, Spoon-leaved moonwort
* Botrychium ternatum
* Botrychium tunux
* Botrychium × watertonense
* Botrychium yaaxudakeit

Conservation

Moonworts can be found in many environments, including prairies, forests, and mountains. While some Botrychium species are quite rare, conservation efforts can be difficult. Determining the rarity of a species is complicated by the plants’ small leaves, which stand only 2-10 centimeters above the soil[1]. Even more of a challenge in obtaining an accurate population count is the genus’s largely subterranean life cycle. The vast majority of any one population of moonworts actually exists below ground in banks consisting of several types of propagules. One type of propagule is the ungerminated spores, which must percolate through the soil beyond the reach of light in order to germinate. This presumably increases the probability that the spore will be in range of a mycorrhizal symbiont before it produces the tiny, roughly heart-shaped gametophyte, which also exists entirely below ground[2]. Finally, some species produce gemmae, a form of asexual propagation achieved by budding of the root[3].

Juvenile and dormant sporophytes can also be hidden in the soil for long periods of time. Mature sporophytes do not necessarily produce a leaf annually; they can remain viable underground for up to 10 years without putting up a photosynthetic component. This feat is made possible by their dependence on symbiotic partnership with AM fungi of the genus Glomus, which supply most fixed carbon for growth and reproduction[4].

This mycorrhizal dependence has also made lab cultivation of moonworts difficult. Thus far, only germination of the gametophyte has been successful.

References

1. ^ Johnson-Groh C, Lee J (2002). “Phenology and demography of two species of Botrychium (Ophioglassaceae)”. Am J Bot 89 (10): 1624-1633.
2. ^ Whittier D (1973). “The effect of light and other factors on spore germination in Botrychium dissectum”. Can J Bot 51: 1791-1794.
3. ^ Johnson-Groh C, Lee J (2002). “Phenology and demography of two species of Botrychium (Ophioglassaceae)”. Am J Bot 89 (10): 1624-1633.
4. ^ Winther J, Friedman W (2007). “Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts in Botrychium (Ophioglossaceae)”. Am J Bot 94 (7): 1248-1255.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Botrychium

* Botrychium in Flora of North America (incl. Botrypus)