''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 Ophioglossaceae, the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only family in the order Ophioglossales, which together with the Psilotales is placed in the sub ...

, closely allied to (and often included as a subgenus of) the genus ''

Botrychium ''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 ...

'' (the moonworts and grapeferns). It is also closely related to the genus ''

Botrypus ''Botrypus virginianus'', synonym ''Botrychium virginianum'', sometimes called rattlesnake fern is a species of perennial fern in the adders-tongue family. It is monotypic within the genus ''Botrypus'', meaning that it is the only species withi ...

'' (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 roots, 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 fronds (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, or at least winter-green (''Botrypus'' are deciduous) 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