Monilophytes (ferns): Ophioglossoid Ferns (eusporangiate ferns): Ophioglossales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Botrypus virginianus
FAMILY
Ophioglossaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Botrypus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Botrypus virginianus as currently defined (with a semicosmopolitan distribution in Eurasia, North America, Central America, South America, West Indies, and Australia) is a complex of semi-cryptic species, not yet well-understood or recognized, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Botrychium virginianum
FAMILY
Ophioglossaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Botrypus virginianus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 006-01-001:
Botrychium virginianum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Osmundopteris virginiana
COMMON NAME:
Rattlesnake Fern, Sang-find
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_bovi_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_bovi_007_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm120330_258
March Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm230331_2259
March Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm230331_2260
March Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm060429_069
April Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Sterile blade reflexed to almost horizontal, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm080420_167
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm080420_169
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Fertile stalk appears in late spring-early summer, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).
)
JK Marlow jkm100422_042
April Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210401_9114
April Polk County NC
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmbvirginianum_and01
April Anderson County SC
Blade not circinate [that is, not coiled in a "fiddlehead" as many ferns are], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm100516_020
May Greenville County SC
The common stalk, below where sterile blade & sporophore diverge, 4-8" long, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm150508_952
May Union County GA
Sosebee Cove
)
Tim Spira tps_bvirginianus_fertile
May
Sporangia densely clustered on branching segments of fertile stalk, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).
)
Tim Spira tps_bvirginianus2
May
Fertile stalk 20-40cm long, arising from base of blade, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).
)
Gill Newberry gn06_b_virginianum
June
)
JK Marlow jkm091006_003
October Greenville County SC
Sterile blade thin-textured, bright green, distinctly lacy-cut, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Botrypus virginianus
FAMILY
Ophioglossaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Botrychium virginianum
FAMILY
Ophioglossaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Botrypus virginianus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Botrychium virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 006-01-001:
Botrychium virginianum
FAMILY
Ophioglossaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Osmundopteris virginiana
220
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: In a wide range of fairly dry, mesic, and wet forests, cove forests, especially in nutrient-rich, moist bottomlands and slopes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Coastal Plain of GA & NC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Leaf consists of a 2-pinnate to 3-pinnate sterile blade & a fertile panicle
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986) p014
- The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014) p184
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p119
- Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005) p37
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p226
- Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America p248
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p342
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".