Common Name: ADDER'S-TONGUE FAMILY Habit: Perennial herb, small, fleshy, generally glabrous; caudex generally underground, unbranched; roots glabrous with bulblets or plantlets or not. Leaf: generally 1 per caudex per year, divided into 2 facing parts with a common stalk,(0)1 sterile and 1(2) fertile (fertile occasionally aborted); sterile photosynthetic part (trophophore) separated from spore-bearing part (sporophore) at to well above ground level; trophophore simple to compound, veins free and forked or netted with included veinlets; sporophore simple to compound, or 0 in young pls. Sporangia: dehiscent into 2 valves, +- 1 mm wide, thick-walled. Genera In Family: 10 genera, 80--100 species: +- worldwide, generally rare or overlooked. Note: Distantly related to most (leptosporangiate) ferns. Haploid (gametophyte) generation underground. Both diploid and haploid generations obligately mycorrhizal. The family Psilotaceae (whisk ferns, 2 genera), sister to Ophioglossaceae, is represented in California (SCo) by 1 (of 2 total) apparently introduced species, Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv. Psilotum is easily distinguished by the dichotomously branching, almost leafless green stems, lack of roots, and large (2--3 mm) 3-lobed sporangia; sporangia are borne on the adaxial (upper) side of a minute (+- 1 mm) forked leaf. Pantrop, subtrop (nearest native populations in Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico); expected in cultivation areas, especially at bases of old palms, possibly brought in on root masses as subterranean gametophytes. [Pryer et al. 2004 Amer J Bot 91:1582--1598]. eFlora Treatment Author: Donald R. Farrar, except as noted Scientific Editor: Alan R. Smith, Bruce G. Baldwin, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: RATTLESNAKE FERN Habit: Roots smooth, without bulblets or plantlets. Leaf: deciduous; bud hairy; sporophore, trophophore joined well above ground level; trophophore blade generally 3--4-pinnate, deltate to ternately triangular, thin, membranous, ultimate segments midribbed; sporophore 1--3-pinnate, absent in young pls. Sporangia: not sunken in axis; stalk 0 or short. Etymology: (Greek: bunch of grapes, from clusters of sporangia)
Botrypus virginianus (L.) Michx.
NATIVE Habit: Plant often robust, herbaceous, deciduous; roots 2 mm thick (1 cm from base), smooth, yellow to brown. Leaf: bud hairy; trophophore sessile, < 20 cm wide, ultimate segments linear to ovate, veins free, forked, margins entire to coarsely serrate to deeply lobed; sporophore stalk long, 2--3-pinnate. Chromosomes: 2n=184. Ecology: Moist shaded valleys along small streams; Elevation: 700--1200 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR, CaR; Distribution Outside California: throughout America, Europe, Asia. Synonyms: Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw. Jepson eFlora Author: Donald R. Farrar Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Botrypus Next taxon: Ophioglossum
Botanical illustration including Botrypus virginianus
Citation for this treatment: Donald R. Farrar 2012, Botrypus virginianus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=91686, accessed on April 24, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
