''Sceptridium'' is a genus of seedless

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

s in the family Ophioglossaceae, closely allied to (and often included as a subgenus of) the genus '' Botrychium'' (the

moonwort ''Botrychium'' is a genus of ferns, seedless vascular plants in the family Ophioglossaceae. ''Botrychium'' species are known as moonworts. They are small, with fleshy roots, and reproduce by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf, the ...

s and grapeferns). It is also closely related to the genus '' Botrypus'' (the rattlesnake fern, often treated as the subgenus ''Osmundopteris'' under ''Botrychium''). ''Sceptridium'' species are commonly called the grape-ferns. These plants are small with fleshy

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s, and reproduce by

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s shed into the air. They differ from the moonworts in having at least some sterile

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s (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 In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

, or at least winter-green (''Botrypus'' are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

) and having the non-spore-bearing part of the frond long-stalked (short-stalked in ''Botrypus'').

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of ''Sceptridium''

Species

* '' S. × argutum'' Sahashi * '' S. atrovirens'' Sahashi * '' S. australe'' (Brown) Lyon (parsley fern) * '' S. biforme'' (Col.) Lyon (fine-leaved parsley fern) * '' S. biternatum'' (Sav.) Lyon (sparse-lobed grapefern, southern grapefern) * '' S. daucifolium'' (Wallich ex Hooker & Greville) Lyon * '' S. decompositum'' (von Martius & Gal.) Lyon * '' S. dissectum'' (Spreng.) Lyon (cut-leaved grape-fern)
MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. January 16, 2012 * '' Sceptridium elegans, S. × elegans'' Sahashi * '' S. formosanum'' (Tagawa) Holub * '' S. japonicum'' (Prantl) Lyon * '' S. javanicum'' Sahashi * '' S. jenmanii'' (Underwood) Lyon (Alabama grape-fern) * '' S. × longistipitatum'' Sahashi * '' S. lunarioides'' (Michaux) Holub (winter grapefern) * '' S. microphyllum'' Sahashi * '' S. multifidum'' (Gmelin) Nishida ex Tag. (leather grape-fern) * '' S. nipponicum'' (Makino) Holub * '' S. oneidense'' (Gilbert) Holub (blunt-leaved grape-fern) * '' S. × pseudoternatum'' (Sahashi) * '' S. × pulchrum'' Sahashi * '' S. robustum'' (Rupr.) Lyon * '' S. rugulosum'' (Wagner) Skoda & Holub (ternate grape-fern, St. Lawrence grape fern, rugulose grape fern)''B. rugulosum''
Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point 27 Dec 2011 * '' S. schaffneri'' (Underwood) Lyon * '' S. × silvicola'' (Sahashi) Ebihara * '' S. subbifoliatum'' (Brack.) Lyon (island grape-fern) * '' S. ternatum'' (Thunberg) Lyon * '' S. triangularifolium'' Sahashi * '' S. underwoodianum'' (Maxon) Lyon''S. underwoodianum''
Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 27 Dec 2011

References

Ophioglossaceae Fern genera {{Fern-stub