''Botrychium'' is a genus of ferns, seedless vascular plants 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 ...
. ''Botrychium'' species are known as moonworts. They 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. One part of the leaf, the trophophore, is sterile and fernlike; the other, the