Index / Search / Botrychium virginianum
§1 Plant
Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.
vernacular rattlesnake fern — species · Ophioglossaceae
§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
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 4 counties across 2 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Low
- Shade
- Low
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -38 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 85 min.
- Precipitation
- 14–55 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.6–6.9
- Root depth
- 10 in min.
- Fertility need
- High
- Soil texture
- medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 1.4 ft
- Foliage texture
- Fine
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Porous
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- 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 4 counties across 2 states/territories.
Montana view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 2 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/BOVI ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/7917024 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z