About Botrychium pinnatum H.St.John
Botrychium pinnatum H.St.John, a fern species in the family Ophioglossaceae, goes by the common name northwestern moonwort. It is native to North America, ranging from Alaska and northern Canada south to California and Arizona. Across this range, it is generally scattered and uncommon, growing in coniferous forests and grassy meadows. This is a very small plant that grows from an underground caudex, producing only one thin, shiny green leaf above ground. The leaf is less than 8 centimeters tall, and is divided into two distinct parts: a sterile portion and a fertile portion. The flat sterile portion bears oval to widely lance-shaped leaflets. The fertile portion has a very different shape, and holds grapelike clusters of sporangia that the plant uses for reproduction.
