Sceptridium is a genus of seedless
vascular plants in the family
Ophioglossaceae,[1] closely allied to (and often included as a subgenus[2] of) the genus Botrychium (the
moonworts and grapeferns). It is also closely related to the genus Botrypus (the rattlesnake fern, often treated as the subgenus Osmundopteris under Botrychium). Sceptridium species are commonly called the grape-ferns.
These plants are small with fleshy
roots, and reproduce by
spores shed into the air. They differ from the moonworts in having at least some sterile
fronds (all fronds in Botrychium are spore-bearing), and in the fronds being bi- or tri-pinnate (Botrychium are single pinnate, or rarely bipinnate); and from Botrypus in being
evergreen, or at least winter-green (Botrypus are
deciduous) and having the non-spore-bearing part of the frond long-stalked (short-stalked in Botrypus).
^B. biforme International Plant Names Index (IPNI) 02 Jan 2012
^S. biforme International Plant Names Index (IPNI) 02 Jan 2012
^B. biternatum Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org 26 Dec 2011
^
abcd[1] MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. January 16, 2012
^Montgomery, James D. (1990). "Survivorship and Predation Changes in Five Populations of Botrychium dissectum in Eastern Pennsylvania". American Fern Journal. 4. 80 (4): 173–182.
doi:
10.2307/1547206.
JSTOR1547206.
^B. dissectum Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 26 Dec 2011
^B. dissectum Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org 26 Dec 2011
^B. obliquum Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 16 Jan 2012
^B. jenmanii Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org 26 Dec 2011
^B. jenmanii Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 26 Dec 2011
^B. alabamense Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 27 Dec 2011
^B. multifidum Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 26 Dec 2011
^B. multifidum Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org 26 Dec 2011
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.).
"Botrychium multifidum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
^B. multifidum University of Wisconsin, Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, Ferns and Fern Allies of Wisconsin. 26 Dec 2011
^BotrychiumArchived 2013-03-17 at the
Wayback Machine Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point 02 Jan 2012
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.).
"Botrychium oneidense". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 16 Jan 2012.
^B. oneidense Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org 26 Dec 2011
^B. rugulosum Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 26 Dec 2011
^B. rugulosum Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point 27 Dec 2011
^B. schaffneri Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 04 Jan 2012
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.).
"Sceptridium subbifoliatum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 16 Jan 2012.