Botrychium lunaria Calflora

Calflora, a 501c3 non-profit

Taxon Report

Botrychium lunaria (L.) Sw.

Common moonwort, Moonwort grapefern

2014 Dr. Amadej Trnkoczy

2011 Ryan Batten

1979 Dean Wm. Taylor

Botrychium lunaria is a fern (rhizomatous) that is native to California, and also found elsewhere in North America and beyond.


	Plant Range Observation Search ~12 records in California Plant Characteristics one or more occurrences within a 7.5-minute quadrangle

Bloom Period

Photos on Calflora


Genus:	Botrychium
Family:	Ophioglossaceae
Category:	fern
PLANTS group:	Fern
Jepson eFlora section: fern

Wetlands: Equally likely to occur in wetlands and non wetlands

Habitat: meadows

Communities: Red Fir Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest, wetland-riparian

Name Status:
Accepted by JEF + PLANTS + POWO

Alternate Names:


PLANTS	Botrychium lunaria var. onondagense
JEF + PLANTS	Botrychium onondagense
CNPS	Botrychium neolunaria

Information about Botrychium lunaria from other sources


Nursery availability from CNPLX Commercial availability unknown. Jepson eFlora USDA PLANTS Profile (BOLU) Photos on Calflora Photos on CalPhotos Google Images Photos on iNaturalist ID Tips on PlantID.net	ITIS Original Publication citation International Plants Names Index Search efloras.org (Flora of North America) Landscape information from Calscape BONAP Distribution Map Consortium of California Herbaria 2 Search the Native American Ethnobotany Database	Add an Observation Location Suitability Planting Guide Distribution by County
[Wikipedia] Range: Moonwort has a circumpolar distribution, being recorded in Eurasia, North America and Greenland.[9][10] It also occurs in north Africa, the Himalayas, and temperate zones of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and South America. (link added by Mary Ann Machi) photos / record / common / links null:!null:!null:!

Suggested Citation

Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals. [web application]. 2025. The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: https://www.calflora.org/ (Accessed: 05/23/2025).