North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Ophioglossum pycnostichum

Ophioglossum pycnostichum (Fernald) Á. Löve & D. Löve

southern adder’s-tongue

Image ID: 15878
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: OPPY3
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ophioglossum pycnostichum
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: OPHIO
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Ophioglossum
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Adderstongue
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 25-30 species, nearly cosmopolitan, primarily tropical.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Lellinger (1985); Wagner in Kramer & Green (1990); Liu & Sahashi in FoC (2013).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: OPHIOG
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Ophioglossaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: (R. Brown) Agardh 1822
FAMILY COMMON: Adder's-tongue Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of 7-8 genera and about 75-115 species. The Ophioglossaceae is only distantly related to the leptosporangiate ferns; Kuo et al. (2011) and Pryer et al. (2004) indicate that it is most closely related to Psilotaceae. There is an increasing consensus that Botrychium as often very broadly circumscribed should be separated into 5 genera, of which 3 are in our area: Botrypus, Botrychium, and Sceptridium (Shinohara et al. 2013; Dauphin, Vieu, & Grant 2014; Hauk, Parks, & Chase 2003; Hauk 1996).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Wagner & Wagner in FNA (1993b); Wagner in Kramer & Green (1990).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION:
HABIT:

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Mar-Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
											x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
3504	1991-0155			View
4186	1992-0342			View
6212	1995-1344			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
6514	4186	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
8867	6212	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: OPPY3
USDA Common Name:
Native Status:
Distribution:
Duration:
Growth Habit:

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ophioglossum pycnostichum
COMMON NAME: Southern Adder's-tongue
SYNONYMY: [= Ar, Tn, Va, W; = O. vulgatum Linnaeus var. pycnostichum Fernald - C, F, Pa, RAB, WV; < O. vulgatum Linnaeus - FNA, FoC, G, Il, K, S]
PHENOLOGY: Mar-Jul.
HABITAT: Bottomland forests, moist loamy soils of successional forests and old fields.
COMMENTS: S. NJ, IN, IL, and s. MI south to GA, MS, and e. TX; s. Mexico. O. vulgatum (defined narrowly) is Eurasian. Fernald (1939) provides a number of characters to separate this taxon from Eurasian O. vulgatum s.s. While Wagner in FNA (1993) subsumes pycnostichum in O. vulgatum, he points out that a distinctive large-spored form with a chromosome number of 2n= ca. 1320 occurs in the Appalachians, suggesting the possibility of cryptic taxa within pycnostichum (= southeastern North American O. vulgatum). The best treatment of this complex remains uncertain and needs additional study.
RANGE MAP: Ophioglossum pycnostichum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Ophioglossaceae (R. Brown) Agardh 1822 (Adder's-tongue Family)
SUMMARY: A family of 7-8 genera and about 75-115 species. The Ophioglossaceae is only distantly related to the leptosporangiate ferns; Kuo et al. (2011) and Pryer et al. (2004) indicate that it is most closely related to Psilotaceae. There is an increasing consensus that Botrychium as often very broadly circumscribed should be separated into 5 genera, of which 3 are in our area: Botrypus, Botrychium, and Sceptridium (Shinohara et al. 2013; Dauphin, Vieu, & Grant 2014; Hauk, Parks, & Chase 2003; Hauk 1996).
REFERENCE: Wagner & Wagner in FNA (1993b); Wagner in Kramer & Green (1990).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Ophioglossum L. (Adderstongue)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 25-30 species, nearly cosmopolitan, primarily tropical.
REFERENCE: Lellinger (1985); Wagner in Kramer & Green (1990); Liu & Sahashi in FoC (2013).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Ophioglossum pycnostichum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Ophioglossum pycnostichum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Ophioglossum pycnostichum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Ophioglossum pycnostichum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Ophioglossum pycnostichum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Ophioglossum pycnostichum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 15878 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 15878 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 15878 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 22253 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)