Index / Search / Botrychium lunaria

§1 Plant

Botrychium lunaria (L.) Sw.

vernacular common moonwort — species · Ophioglossaceae


USDA
BOLU
GBIF
2650165
Rank
species
common moonwort (Botrychium lunaria)
Platephotograph · Vladimir BryukhovCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Fern
Family
Ophioglossaceae Martinov
Genus
Botrychium
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • GL Greenland Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state
Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
85 min.
Precipitation
14–55 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7.2
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
1 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Spread rate
None
Stratify
No
Propagation
bare root, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BOLU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2650165 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z