Botrychium simplex E. Hitchcock var. simplex . Least Moonwort. Phen: May-Jun. Hab: Disturbed gravelly areas in spruce-fir forests, northern hardwoods forests, grassy balds. Dist: NL (Newfoundland) and BC south to NJ, VA, NC, MI, IN, WI, IA, SD, WY, CO, NM, UT, NV, and CA.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Wagner & Wagner in FNA (1993b) and Anderson (2006) discuss variation within B. simplex. Farrar & Wendel (1996) indicate that 3 varieties of B. simplex have strong genetic divergence, comparable to that usually distinguishing species. Additional study of "Botrychium simplex" is likely to lead to recognition of a number of taxa, probably at specific rank. For now, and for our area, I recognize a single entity at varietal rank.

Synonymy ⓘ: = C, F, G, Va; = n/a – RAB; < Botrychium simplex E.Hitchc. – FNA2, GrPl, Il, K1, K3, K4, NE, NY, Pa, Tn, W, WV

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Great Plains: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Midwest: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Northcentral & Northeast: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily ⓘ: 5