OPHIOGLOSSACEAE

ADDER'S-TONGUE FAMILY

Warren H. Wagner, Jr.

Perennial, 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; sterile part separated from fertile at to well above ground, blade simple to compound, veins free and forked (or netted, with included veinlets); fertile part bladeless, bearing sporangia, simple to compound
Sporangia dehiscent into 2 valves, ± 1 mm wide, thick-walled
Genera in family: 3 genera, 70–85 species: ± worldwide, generally rare or overlooked. Fern-like plants with many traits of seed plants. Specimens must be carefully spread and pressed for identification; haploid generation underground, fleshy, non-green, associated with fungi.

BOTRYCHIUM

GRAPE-FERN, MOONWORT

Roots smooth, pale or cork-ridged, dark gray, without bulblets or plantlets
Leaf generally deciduous; bud glabrous or hairy; sterile part generally ± 1–3-pinnate (rarely simple or entire), linear to deltate, segments linear to oblong and midribbed or spoon- to wedge- or fan-shaped and not midribbed, veins free, forked, margins entire to dentate or irregularly cut; fertile part 1–3-pinnate, < to > sterile
Sporangia not sunken in axis; stalk 0 or short
Species in genus: 40–50 species: generally temp to arctic or alpine
Etymology: (Greek: bunch of grapes, from clusters of sporangia)
Reference: [Wagner & Wagner 1983 Amer Fern J 73:53–62]
Difficult, needing careful study; most species very uncommon, sporadic; good sampling of populations highly desirable in specimens
Horticultural information: TRY; DFCLT.

Native

B. montanum W.H. Wagner

WESTERN GOBLIN

Leaf: sterile part separated from fertile near to just below middle of leaf, stalk 0.2–0.5 X blade, blade lobed to 1-pinnate, < 7 cm, irregularly oblong, gray-green, dull, lobes or segments irregularly angled, square or oblong, not midribbed; fertile part 1-pinnate, 1.5–4.5 X sterile, fleshy
Chromosomes: 2n=90
Ecology: Shady coniferous woods
Elevation: 1500–1800 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Cascade Range (near Jonesville, Butte, Tehama cos.)
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Montana