Sceptridium

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Sceptridium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Ophioglossophyta
Class: Ophioglossopsida
Order: Ophioglossales
Family: Botrychiaceae
Genus: Sceptridium
Lyon
Species
  • Sceptridium dissectum
  • Sceptridium multifidum
  • Sceptridium rugulosum

Sceptridium is a genus of seedless vascular plants, closely allied to (and previously often included in) the genus Botrychium (the moonworts) and also closely related to the genus Botrypus (the grape-ferns).

These plants are small with fleshy roots, and reproduce by spores shed into the air. They differ from the moonworts in having at least some sterile fronds (all fronds in Botrychium are spore-bearing), and in the fronds being bi- or tri-pinnate (Botrychium are single pinnate, or rarely bipinnate); and from Botrypus in being evergreen (Botrypus are deciduous) and having the non-spore-bearing part of the frond long-stalked (short-stalked in Botrypus).