disturbed by rodents and game, hosts few, widely scattered, 

 small, chlorotic plants. 



On the Deer lodge National Forest, B. paradoxum occurs in 

 meadows in small and large openings, from a few to hundreds of 

 acres, in the dominant montane and subalpine forests of the 

 area. Tree species in these zones include Abies lasiocarpa, 

 Larix lyallii, Picea engelmannii, Pinus albicaulis, and Pinus 

 contorta. The meadows are dominated by grasses and sedges and 

 have a conspicuous forb element. These habitats are normally 

 considered "open" and "exposed," however, the tiny moonworts 

 are in fact understory species, growing underneath, and 

 sheltered by the much taller graminoids and f orbs . In all 

 three populations B. paradoxum is the most common member of 

 the Botrychium genus community. In spite of the diversity of 

 these communities, moonworts are nowhere common. Even at 

 Windy Ridge, the canopy cover they contribute (the degree of 

 dominance) is insignificant and plants are very difficult to 

 find. 



The grasslands of Windy Ridge closely resemble the 

 Festuca scabrella/F . idahoensis habitat type described by 

 Mueggler and Stewart (1980). The near pristine habitat at 

 this site is indicated by the clear dominance of Festuca 

 scabrella and an abundance of Carex raynoldsii , both species 

 highly sensitive to grazing. One Hundred Acre Meadow may be a 

 degraded version of this habitat type; rough fescue is 

 present, but other fescues (F. idahoensis and F. rubra) and 

 other native grasses are more common. The smaller openings at 

 Storm Lake are dominated by Festuca idahoensis and sedges 

 (including Carex geyeri , a species usually associated with 

 forests) . At all three sites, Carex raynoldsii is 

 subdominant . 



A complete list of vascular plants found associated with 

 B. paradoxum is presented in Appendix D. In the field, there 

 seemed to be an especially close association with species in 

 the Rosaceae (i.e. Fragaria virginiana and Potentilla spp.). 

 This may be a coincidence, or a mutual preference for slightly 

 disturbed microsites (decreased competition from graminoids) , 

 but, a similar association has been noted between species of 

 Botrychium subgenus Sceptridium and wild cherries, apples, and 

 strawberries in the eastern U.S. (Lellinger 1985), suggesting 

 a possible mycorrhizal link. 



Members of the Ophioglossaceae, including species of 

 Botrychium, have no root hairs and are considered to be 

 dependent upon associated endophytic fungi for mineral 

 absorption as well as, presumably, carbohydrate nutrition 

 (Gifford and Foster 1989, Lellinger 1985, Wagner and Wagner 

 1981) . This mycorrhizal relationship, found in both the 

 subterranean gametophyte and the terrestrial sporophyte, is 



