Botrychium matricariifolium(Retz.) A.Braun ex W.D.J.Koch

branched moonwortdaisy-leaved moonwortmatricary grapefern

WFO wfo-0001109056 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Alison Northup
fig. a Alison Northup, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-23 / obs. 200227821
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by er-birds
fig. b er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 92191579
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. c Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 28120358
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. d Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 28723638
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Étienne Lacroix-Carignan
fig. e Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 117170356
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Christian Berg
fig. f Christian Berg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 75741631
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret
fig. g Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205338138
Botrychium matricariifolium, photographed by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret
fig. h Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205183926

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 57 botanical countries

Regions where Botrychium matricariifolium is native: Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, North European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyHungaryItalyNorth European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineConnecticutIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLabradorMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSouth DakotaTennesseeVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Botrychium matricariifolium, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Connecticut CNT NORTHERN AMERICA
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kentucky KTY
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 651 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -16.3 °C -11.6 °C -4.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.7 °C 24.3 °C 27.5 °C
Annual rainfall 690 mm 1,013 mm 1,484 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 76 mm 200 mm 310 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 651 research-grade observations of Botrychium matricariifolium that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 21 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Botrychium lanceolatum Rupr.
  • Botrychium lunaria subsp. matricariifolium (A.Braun ex Döll) Hartm.
  • Botrychium lunaria var. matricariifolium (Retz.) Döll
  • Botrychium lunaria var. matricariifolium A.Braun ex Döll
  • Botrychium lunaria var. rutaceum (Willd.) Hook.f.
  • Botrychium matricariifolium f. gracile Weath.
  • Botrychium matricariifolium f. rhombeum (Ångstr.) M.Broun
  • Botrychium matricariifolium var. matricariifolium
  • Botrychium matricariifolium var. rhombeum Farw.
  • Botrychium neglectum Wood
  • Botrychium neglectum f. gracile House
  • Botrychium ramosum (Roth) Asch.
  • Botrychium ramosum var. neglectum Farw.
  • Botrychium ramosum var. palmatum (Milde) Asch.
  • Botrychium rutaceum Willd.
  • Botrychium tenellum Ångstr.
  • Osmunda lunaria f. matricariifolia Retz.
  • Osmunda lunaria var. matricariifolia Retz.
  • Osmunda lunaria var. ramosa (Roth) Roth
  • Osmunda ramosa Roth
  • Osmunda rutacea (Willd.) Poir.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.