Botrychium dissectum (cut-leaved grape fern)

Botrychium dissectum Spreng.

Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon

Botrychium dissectum Spreng. var. obliquum (Muhl. ex Willd.) Clute

Botrychium dissectum Spreng. var. oblongifolium (Graves) Broun

Botrychium obliquum Muhl. ex Willd.

Botrychium obliquum Muhl. ex Willd. var. elongatum Gilbert & Haberer

Cut-leaved grape fern, cutleaf grape fern

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Pteridophyta	Ferns
Class	Filicopsida	“Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns
Order	Ophioglossales	“Snake-tongue plants,” a small group of pteridophyte plants, vascular plants that reproduce with spores
Family	Ophioglossaceae	The adder’s-tongue family, a family of ferns
Genus	Botrychium	From the Greek botrys, “a bunch of grapes,” alluding to the bunchlike appearance of the spore-bearing organs of these ferns
Species	dissectum	Dissected, as in leaves

About plant names...

Botrychium dissectum translates roughly as “a small cluster of grapes with finely cut leaves”— a perfect description. It is a North American native plant.

Identification: These ferns are 6-18" (15-45 cm) high. Leaves are finely divided and feathery, only at the base of the plant. The spore clusters, 3-6" (7.6-15 cm) tall, are thrust up above the foliage on an infertile leaf. They consist of many round spore cases, each about ¹/₁₆" (1.6 mm) around. They appear bronze-colored during the winter.

Medical:

References:

Cobb, Boughton, Farnsworth, Elizabeth & Lowe, Cheryl, Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Ferns and Their Related Families of Northwestern and Central North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, p. 266

Online References:

Botrychium dissectum on Missouriplants.com

Botrychium dissectum on Ferns of Mississippi

Botrychium dissectum on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Botrychium dissectum on

Botrychium dissectum at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Cofrin Center for Biodiversity

Botrychium dissectum at Ontario Ferns

Botrychium dissectum at Illinois Wildflowers

Botrychium dissectum on

Botrychium dissectum at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Botrychium dissectum on SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

Botrychium dissectum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

8/18/2010 · J. Harry Rich Woods, off Nod Rd., Groton, MA
≈ 6 × 6" (14 × 16 cm) ID is uncertain

8/18/2010 · J. Harry Rich Woods, off Nod Rd., Groton, MA
≈ 7 × 8" (18 × 20 cm) ID is uncertain

10/28/2012 · By Jacquelyn Boyt

Range:

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