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Grape-ferns are seedless vascular plants of the genus Botrychium which are in some classifications segregated in a separate genus, Botrypus. They are small, with fleshy roots, reproducing by spores shed into the air. They differ from the moonworts (Botrychium s.s.) in having at least some sterile fronds (all fronds in Botrychium are spore-bearing), and in the fronds being bi- or tri-pinnate (in Botrychium s.s. are single pinnate, or rarely bipinnate). Botrypus has recently been shown to be paraphyletic with respect to Botrychium s.s. (Hauk et al. 2003), and has been included in that genus in most recent fern classifications.
Botrypus virginiana with ripe spore
[edit] References
- Hauk, W. D., C. R. Parks, and M. W. Chase. 2003. Phylogenetic studies of Ophioglossaceae: evidence from rbcL and trnL-F plastid DNA sequences and morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28: 131-151.
