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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Rattlesnake Fern - Botrychium virginianum
Other Names:  Botrypus virginianus

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4
C-value: 4


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Plants 10–45 cm. Trophophore sessile, deltoid, pale green, thin, up to 25 cm long with up to 10 pairs of nearly overlapping pinnae, the basal pairs twice pinnate, the apical merely lobed. Sporophore twice pinnate, shorter than to twice the length of trophophore (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native
 


Range Comments
In MT in many of the western mountainous counties east to Park County; Eurasia, AK to NL south through most of North America and into S. America (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 250

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Dry to moist forests, woodlands, often near water bodies; valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Kelly, D. 1994. Demography and conservation of Botrychium australe, a peculiar, sparse, mycorrhizal fern. New Zealand Journal of Botany 32: 393-400.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Soltis, D. E. and P. S. Soltis. 1986. Electrophoretic evidence for inbreeding in the fern Botrychium virginianum (Ophioglossaceae). American Journal of Botany 73: 588-592.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Rattlesnake Fern"
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Citation for data on this website:
Rattlesnake Fern — Botrychium virginianum.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from