Botrychium minganense

Mingan Moonwort

Mingan Moonwort
Photo courtesy Wisconsin State Herbarium and Tim Ditzman

Flora, fauna, earth, and sky...
The natural history of the northwoods

Name:

• Botyrichium, from the Greek botrus (botrys), "grape"; the Grape Ferns
• minganense, from the Latin "of Mingan", for Mingan Island, in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
• Common Name, from the moon shaped leaflets
• Other common names include Mingan Island Grape Fern, Botryche de Mingan (Qué)

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
• Division Polypodiophyta, the True Ferns
• Class Filicopsida
• Order Ophioglossales
• Family Ophioglossaceae, the Adder's Tongue or Succulent Ferns
• Genus Botrychium, the Grape Ferns
• Taxonomic Serial Number: 17186
• Also known as Botrychium lunaria var. minganense
• Twelve species of Grape Fern (Botrychium spp.) occur in Canoe Country, all but Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum) being rare or extremely rare. These are woodland jewels, rarely seen.

Description:

• A rare little succulent fern, usually less than 6" tall.
• Sterile Frond a single leaf, to 4", narrowly oblong to linear in overall outline,subdivided into up to 10 pairs of narrow, fan shaped leaflets, separately spaced and not overlapping; dull green in color.
• Fertile frond slightly taller, rising from base and arching over the single compound leaf; large spores in pendant clusters at tip. Spores released July to October.
• Stem only about 2" long, hollow and fleshy.
• Rootstalk upright; roots few, short, horizontally spreading.

Identification:

• Identifiable as a Moonwort by its distinctive leaf, unlike anything else in the North Woods
• Distinguished from the Common Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria) by its narrower leaflets which are separated on the leaf stem and do not overlap.
• Field Marks
  • Diminutive size
  • Succulent stem
  • Upright growth habit
  • Single leaf with "half moon" leaflets which do not overlap

Distribution:

• From Alaska, throughout boreal Canada, southward into all the western mountain states to Arizona, and eastward along the northern tier of states, to the Atlantic Canadian Provinces and New England.
• Mingan Moonwort is listed as a "Species of Special Concern" in Minnesota.

Habitat:

Fire:

Associates:

History:

Uses:

Reproduction:

• Reproduces by spores

Propagation:

• By spores (difficult)

Cultivation:

• Hardy to USDA Zone 2 (average minimum annual temperature -50ºF)
• Generally not suitable for the home garden.
• Not available commercially and too rare to be collected from the wild.

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