''Japanobotrychum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s in the family

Ophioglossaceae Ophioglossaceae, from Ancient Greek ὄφις (''óphis''), meaning "snake", and γλῶσσα (''glôssa''), meaning "tongue", also known as the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classificatio ...

with the sole species ''Japanobotrychum lanuginosum''. The genus is accepted in the

Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish on the classification of pteridophytes ( lycophytes and ferns) that reflects knowledge about plant relationships discove ...

classification of 2016 (PPG I) (under the name "''Japanobotrychium''"), but not by some other sources.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Japanobotrychum'' was first described in 1931 by the Japanese botanist Genkei Masamune, with the only species being ''Japanobotrychum arisanense''. This is now considered to be a synonym of ''Botrychium lanuginosum'' Wall. ex Hook. & Grev., first described in 1828, so the epithet ''lanuginosum'' has priority over ''arisanense''. The

classification of 2016 (PPG I) accepts the genus (with the spelling "''Japanobotrychium''"), with one species, as did the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' , whereas ''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

'' subsumed the genus into ''

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 t ...

''.

Distribution

''Japanobotrychum lanuginosum'' is widely distributed, mainly in tropical Asia, being found from West Himalaya and India through southern China and

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17490642, from2=Q17257347, from3=Q15239003 Ophioglossaceae Monotypic fern genera Taxa described in 1931