Botrychium simplexE.Hitchc.

little grapefern

WFO wfo-0001109060 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Botrychium simplex, photographed by Martin Purdy
fig. a Martin Purdy, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-14 / obs. 166171072
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Martin Purdy
fig. b Martin Purdy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166161729
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Roger Rittmaster
fig. c Roger Rittmaster, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 128224136
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. d Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146241090
Botrychium simplex, photographed by er-birds
fig. e er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205121313
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Martin Purdy
fig. f Martin Purdy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166171327
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Martin Purdy
fig. g Martin Purdy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166172122
Botrychium simplex, photographed by Sarah Johnson
fig. h Sarah Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 44095484

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 65 botanical countries

Regions where Botrychium simplex is native: Tibet, East Himalaya, Nepal, Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Central European Russia, Corse, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Greenland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming TibetEast HimalayaNepalAustriaBaltic StatesBelgiumCentral European RussiaCorseDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.SwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGreenlandIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMontanaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming DelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Botrychium simplex, 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
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Montana MNT
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belgium BGM
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Denmark DEN
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL
Nepal NEP
Tibet CHT ASIA-TEMPERATE

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 227 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -17.2 °C -11.5 °C -1.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 15.6 °C 21.3 °C 26.5 °C
Annual rainfall 513 mm 1,093 mm 3,401 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 49 mm 150 mm 331 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 227 research-grade observations of Botrychium simplex 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 kannenbergii Klinsm.
  • Botrychium kannenbergii f. compositum Lasch
  • Botrychium kannenbergii f. simplex Lasch
  • Botrychium kannenbergii f. simplicissimum Lasch
  • Botrychium kannenbergii f. speciosissimum Lasch
  • Botrychium kannenbergii f. subcompositum Lasch
  • Botrychium lunaria var. cordatum Fr.
  • Botrychium lunaria var. simplex (E.Hitchc.) Watt
  • Botrychium reuteri Payot
  • Botrychium simplex f. laxifolium (R.T.Clausen) Fernald
  • Botrychium simplex f. simplex
  • Botrychium simplex f. speciosissimum Milde
  • Botrychium simplex f. vulgaris Milde
  • Botrychium simplex var. angustum Milde
  • Botrychium simplex var. compositum (Lasch) Milde
  • Botrychium simplex var. cordatum (Fr.) Wherry
  • Botrychium simplex var. laxifolium R.T.Clausen
  • Botrychium simplex var. simplex
  • Botrychium simplex var. simplicissimum (Lasch) Milde
  • Botrychium simplex var. subcompositum (Lasch) Milde
  • Botrychium virginianum var. simplex (E.Hitchc.) A.Gray

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.