keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

BOTRYCHIUM/OPHIOGLOSSACEAE 357
REFERENCES: Butters 1917b; Wagner 1960, 1992; Thomas 1979; Hauk 1995; Do et al. 1996; Holmes
et al. 1996; Skoda 1997; Hauk & Haufler 1999.
1. Plants small, to only ca. 12 cm tall; blade portion of leaf prostrate on ground, small, only 3–8 cm
long, short-stalked (petiole-like stalk 1.5–3 cm long); ultimate segments (= smallest subdivisions)
of blade portion of leaf fan-shaped, their tips broadly rounded; leaves commonly 2 per plant
_____________________________________________________________________________ B. lunarioides
1. Plants usually larger, 8–75 cm tall; blade portion of leaf raised above the ground, not prostrate,
usually larger, 4–30 cm long, either long-stalked (petiole-like stalk 3–20 cm long) OR sessile (petiole-like
stalk absent) in B. virginianum; ultimate segments of blade portion of leaf not fan-shaped,
their tips usually pointed or obtuse; leaf usually 1 per plant.
2. Blade portion of leaf sessile (fertile stalk originating at very base of blade portion); blade finely
divided, the ultimate segments numerous, small, with coarsely serrate to lacerate (= irregularly
cut) margins; leaves absent in winter ________________________________________ B. virginianum
2. Blade portion of leaf long-stalked, appearing to have a long petiole (blade portion well-separated
from origin of fertile stalk); blade coarsely divided, the ultimate segments relatively few,
large, with denticulate margins; leaves present in winter.
3. Blade portion of leaf 2–3-pinnate (often 2-pinnate), � papery/herbaceous; ultimate segments
of blade portion mostly oblong to obliquely lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, the
margins nearly parallel, basally cuneate, apically relatively blunt ______________________ B. biternatum
3. Blade portion of leaf mostly 3-pinnate, relatively leathery; ultimate segments of blade portion
usually � trowel-shaped (rarely linear), the margins usually not parallel, basally truncate
or obtuse, apically relatively pointed ________________________________________ B. dissectum
Botrychium biternatum (Savigny) Underw., (twice-ternate), SOUTHERN GRAPE FERN, SPARSE-LOBE
GRAPE FERN, WINTER GRAPE FERN. Plant ca. 10–35 cm tall; roots usually 10 or fewer, blackish;
leaves present over winter, mostly green but rarely bronze in winter if exposed; new leaves appearing
in late spring to early summer; sterile blade portion green to dark green, long-stalked
(stalk 3–20 cm long), � papery/herbaceous, to 18 cm long and 28 cm wide, usually smaller, 2–
3-pinnate (often 2-pinnate), the ultimate segments (= smallest subdivisions) elongate, obliquely
lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, the margins nearly parallel, finely denticulate (marginal
teeth finer and more uniform than in B. dissectum), the apices obtuse to short-acuminate. Low
woods; Angelina, Bowie, Cass, Hardin, Harrison, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Sabine,
and Titus (BRIT—identified J. Peck) cos. in the Pineywoods; se U.S. from PA s to FL w to IL, OK,
and TX. Spores maturing in the fall. [B. tenuifolium Underw., B. dissectum Spreng. var.
tenuifolium (Underw.) Farw.] This species and B. dissectum are similar morphologically and are
often confused (see discussion under B. dissectum). m/277
Botrychium dissectum Spreng., (dissected), DISSECTED GRAPE FERN, OBLIQUE GRAPE FERN, CUT-
LEAF GRAPE FERN. Plant similar to B. biternatum; leaves present over winter, often bronze or reddish
bronze in winter if exposed (but more so in colder areas of the n U.S.); new leaves appearing
in late spring; sterile blade portion shiny green, relatively leathery, to 20 cm long and 30 cm
wide, mostly 3-pinnate, the ultimate segments usually � trowel-shaped (rarely linear), the
margins usually not parallel, denticulate to coarsely denticulate, the marginal teeth coarser and
less uniform than in B. biternatum. In various habitats from open grassy areas to deep forests;
Anderson, Bowie, Fannin (Diggs & Beach s.n., 1999), Leon, and Walker (BRIT—all identified by
J.H. Peck) cos., Pineywoods w to Post Oak Savannah and Red River drainage; Hatch et al. (1990)
also cited the Blackland Prairie; while the range map in Wagner and Wagner (1993) shows this
species in TX only on the extreme e margin of the Pineywoods, it occurs considerably further w;
se Canada and throughout e U.S. w to KS, MN, OK, and TX. Spores maturing in the fall. [B.
dissectum var. obliquum (Muhl. ex Willd.) Clute, B. dissectum var. oblongifolium (Graves) Broun,
B. obliquum Muhl. ex Willd., B. obliquum var. elongatum Gilbert & Haberer] This is a highly