Sceptridium oneidense

Sceptridium oneidense, the blunt-lobed grapefern, is a fern species in the family Ophioglossaceae.^[1]

Sceptridium oneidense
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Ophioglossales
Family:	Ophioglossaceae
Genus:	Sceptridium
Species:	S. oneidense
Binomial name
Sceptridium oneidense (Gilbert) Holub
Synonyms
Botrychium dissectum var. oneidense (Gilbert) Farw. Botrychium dissectum f. oneidense (Gilbert) Clute Botrychium oneidense (Gilbert) House

Description

The leaf blades of S. oneidense are ternately compound. The spores mature in late fall in panicles that rise above the sterile fronds.

Taxonomy

At first, S. oneidense was considered a variety of Botrychium dissectum, then a form of it, then possibly a hybrid species. However, after a more detailed study by Wagner in 1961, it was considered its own species.

Distribution and habitat

S. oneidense grows in moist woodlands in eastern United States and Canada from New Brunswick to Ontario and south to North Carolina. In Canada, it is a relatively rare species, usually only found in large groups of Botrychium obliquum.^[2]