This magical metallurgy extended to the alchemists' long-cherished desire to turn base metals to precious ones. John Parkinson, apothecary and botanist to Charles I, recorded that moonwort could turn lead to silver, the metal governed by the moon.
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
This magical metallurgy extended to the alchemists' long-cherished desire to turn base metals to precious ones. John Parkinson, apothecary and botanist to Charles I, recorded that moonwort could turn lead to silver, the metal governed by the moon.
It was also thought to have power over metal. It was claimed that moonwort could pull the nails from the shoe of any horse that trod on it.
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
It was also thought to have power over metal. It was claimed that moonwort could pull the nails from the shoe of any horse that trod on it.
In the Scottish highlands, where it is most common, moonwort was believed to allow witches to harness the power of the moon and to grant access to the land of fairies. Indeed, it could be used as a key to open any lock.
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
In the Scottish highlands, where it is most common, moonwort was believed to allow witches to harness the power of the moon and to grant access to the land of fairies. Indeed, it could be used as a key to open any lock.
Moonwort gets its sustenance from the roots' symbiotic relationship with fungi, meaning moonwort can live underground without chlorophyll for long periods. That its moon-shaped 'leaves' (not actual leaves) seem to emerge at random made it an obvious plant to link with the irrational realm of magic.
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Moonwort gets its sustenance from the roots' symbiotic relationship with fungi, meaning moonwort can live underground without chlorophyll for long periods. That its moon-shaped 'leaves' (not actual leaves) seem to emerge at random made it an obvious plant to link with the irrational realm of magic.
While some big, leafy ferns stand tall, the mysterious moonwort spends most of its life beneath the soil. Its tiny fronds only appear above ground irregularly to release spores and reproduce.
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
While some big, leafy ferns stand tall, the mysterious moonwort spends most of its life beneath the soil. Its tiny fronds only appear above ground irregularly to release spores and reproduce.
We've put the vegetable lamb out to pasture. But there's still magic ferns to share from the pages of Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal, ones that come from much closer to home.
You've heard of the philosopher's stone, but what about the philosopher's fern?
You've heard of the philosopher's stone, but what about the philosopher's fern?
September 29, 2026 at 7:15 PM
We've put the vegetable lamb out to pasture. But there's still magic ferns to share from the pages of Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal, ones that come from much closer to home.
You've heard of the philosopher's stone, but what about the philosopher's fern?
You've heard of the philosopher's stone, but what about the philosopher's fern?
I haven't really got any #favouriteplants so here's 4 new species I've found Cornwall that were my faves for a short time. #wildflowerhour
Botrychium lunaria - Moonwort (fern)
Elatine hexandra - Six stamened Waterwort
Verbascum densiflorum - Dense-flowered Mullein
Ruddy Clover - Trifolium rubens
Botrychium lunaria - Moonwort (fern)
Elatine hexandra - Six stamened Waterwort
Verbascum densiflorum - Dense-flowered Mullein
Ruddy Clover - Trifolium rubens
September 13, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I haven't really got any #favouriteplants so here's 4 new species I've found Cornwall that were my faves for a short time. #wildflowerhour
Botrychium lunaria - Moonwort (fern)
Elatine hexandra - Six stamened Waterwort
Verbascum densiflorum - Dense-flowered Mullein
Ruddy Clover - Trifolium rubens
Botrychium lunaria - Moonwort (fern)
Elatine hexandra - Six stamened Waterwort
Verbascum densiflorum - Dense-flowered Mullein
Ruddy Clover - Trifolium rubens
That Moonwort 😍 💚. Must go and see it one day.
September 13, 2026 at 7:27 PM
That Moonwort 😍 💚. Must go and see it one day.
That Moonwort! 😍
September 13, 2026 at 7:23 PM
That Moonwort! 😍
Lots of #FavouritePlant s to choose from this year, mainly things seen botanising with the wonderful @ghostofdatura.bsky.social Days adventuring together and seeking rare plants were some of my bestest of days. Names on alt #wildflowerhour
September 13, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Lots of #FavouritePlant s to choose from this year, mainly things seen botanising with the wonderful @ghostofdatura.bsky.social Days adventuring together and seeking rare plants were some of my bestest of days. Names on alt #wildflowerhour
Botrychium lunaria, Moonwort
August 28, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Botrychium lunaria, Moonwort
Summer brings moonwort and sea thrift, rain and flame to the Highlands, as Kirsteen Bell & @annieworsley.bsky.social look for symbols of hope on their crofts www.caughtbytheriver.net/2026/07/crof...
July 29, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Summer brings moonwort and sea thrift, rain and flame to the Highlands, as Kirsteen Bell & @annieworsley.bsky.social look for symbols of hope on their crofts www.caughtbytheriver.net/2026/07/crof...
Pressed specimen of Moonwort, ca 1780s, in a bound herbarium connected with the Darwin family. MS Add. 8090 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social, @theul.bsky.social.
July 11, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Pressed specimen of Moonwort, ca 1780s, in a bound herbarium connected with the Darwin family. MS Add. 8090 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social, @theul.bsky.social.
Moonwort is one of our stranger ferns, but always exciting to find. I found quite a large patch of plants in the dune grassland near Golspie a week or so ago. It only emerges above ground when conditions are just right, so even more of a treat to see
#ferns
#grasslandplants
#ferns
#grasslandplants
July 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Moonwort is one of our stranger ferns, but always exciting to find. I found quite a large patch of plants in the dune grassland near Golspie a week or so ago. It only emerges above ground when conditions are just right, so even more of a treat to see
#ferns
#grasslandplants
#ferns
#grasslandplants
🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Moonwort looks strange but is a small fern (Botrychium lunaria, family Ophioglossaceae). Strong connection with its mycorrhizal fungus. Lives mostly underground, occasionally putting up a leaf. Found across northern and temperate southern hemisphere. #BUC2026
July 8, 2026 at 8:59 AM
🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Moonwort looks strange but is a small fern (Botrychium lunaria, family Ophioglossaceae). Strong connection with its mycorrhizal fungus. Lives mostly underground, occasionally putting up a leaf. Found across northern and temperate southern hemisphere. #BUC2026
Outstanding especially primula and moonwort
July 2, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Outstanding especially primula and moonwort
Considering my past deep dive into moonwort ferns, the ferns being extinction proof, for lack of a better term, doesn't surprise me!
As part of our NASA-funded work to understand why ferns were so successful in the aftermath of the impact that killed the dinosaurs (for centuries!) team lead @ebsessa.bsky.social's graduate student led a study of gametophytes, the tiny stage that ferns go through that you may not even know about.
July 2, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Considering my past deep dive into moonwort ferns, the ferns being extinction proof, for lack of a better term, doesn't surprise me!
Dunnet Links ‘half machair’ (as is receives sand on northerly winds) and its mad combination of wonderful plants. Lovely to see Primula scotica again after nearly two decades. Baltic Rush, Globeflower, Moonwort..
July 1, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Dunnet Links ‘half machair’ (as is receives sand on northerly winds) and its mad combination of wonderful plants. Lovely to see Primula scotica again after nearly two decades. Baltic Rush, Globeflower, Moonwort..
If I do anymore reading about the Botrychium genus of ferns, I won't be able to sleep at night.
Thank you FrontRangeWildFlowers on Bluesky for the Moonwort Systematics link that sent me down the Internet rabbit hole!
Thank you FrontRangeWildFlowers on Bluesky for the Moonwort Systematics link that sent me down the Internet rabbit hole!
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
If I do anymore reading about the Botrychium genus of ferns, I won't be able to sleep at night.
Thank you FrontRangeWildFlowers on Bluesky for the Moonwort Systematics link that sent me down the Internet rabbit hole!
Thank you FrontRangeWildFlowers on Bluesky for the Moonwort Systematics link that sent me down the Internet rabbit hole!
🤪 Going insane over moonworts is understandable. They're stranger than lichen. They're even stranger than that one North American plant that parasitizes a tree that's a member of the pea family.
conps.org/get-a-little...
conps.org/get-a-little...
Get A Little Moonwort Madness - Colorado Native Plant Society
conps.org
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
🤪 Going insane over moonworts is understandable. They're stranger than lichen. They're even stranger than that one North American plant that parasitizes a tree that's a member of the pea family.
conps.org/get-a-little...
conps.org/get-a-little...
The pumice moonwort is found in the high attitude regions of the Oregon Casades where it grows in volcanic soil.
Oregon Flora says Botrychidum pumicola is an obligate parasite of mycorrhizal fungi.
oregonflora.org/taxa/index.p...
Oregon Flora says Botrychidum pumicola is an obligate parasite of mycorrhizal fungi.
oregonflora.org/taxa/index.p...
OregonFlora
oregonflora.org
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
The pumice moonwort is found in the high attitude regions of the Oregon Casades where it grows in volcanic soil.
Oregon Flora says Botrychidum pumicola is an obligate parasite of mycorrhizal fungi.
oregonflora.org/taxa/index.p...
Oregon Flora says Botrychidum pumicola is an obligate parasite of mycorrhizal fungi.
oregonflora.org/taxa/index.p...
Like orchids, Botrychium ferns are completely dependent on mycorhiza fungi for nutrients. Thus far, scientists have discerned one of the mycorhiza fungi symbiotic with some moonwort species to be Glomus spp.
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
Botrychium spp.
www.fs.usda.gov
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Like orchids, Botrychium ferns are completely dependent on mycorhiza fungi for nutrients. Thus far, scientists have discerned one of the mycorhiza fungi symbiotic with some moonwort species to be Glomus spp.
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
The Botrychidum genus of ferns belong to the Ophioglossaceae fern family. Scientists calculated that the Ophioglossaceae family diverged between 262mya and 322mya (Middle Carboniferous to Early Permian).
academic.oup.com/aob/article/...
academic.oup.com/aob/article/...
Global diversification of the common moonwort ferns (Botrychium lunaria group, Ophioglossaceae) was mainly driven by Pleistocene climatic shifts
AbstractBackground and Aims. The cosmopolitan Botrychium lunaria group belongs to the most species-rich genus of the family Ophioglossaceae and was conside
academic.oup.com
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
The Botrychidum genus of ferns belong to the Ophioglossaceae fern family. Scientists calculated that the Ophioglossaceae family diverged between 262mya and 322mya (Middle Carboniferous to Early Permian).
academic.oup.com/aob/article/...
academic.oup.com/aob/article/...
Good news! The US Forest Service has a comprehensive Moonwort fern (Botrychidum) guide that is accessible and explains their unusual life cycle.
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
Botrychium spp.
www.fs.usda.gov
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Good news! The US Forest Service has a comprehensive Moonwort fern (Botrychidum) guide that is accessible and explains their unusual life cycle.
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
www.fs.usda.gov/database/fei...
If insanity makes you curious, then try reading about Moonwort (Botrychidum) systematics.
www.herbarium.iastate.edu/moonwort-bot...
www.herbarium.iastate.edu/moonwort-bot...
Moonwort (Botrychium) Systematics
The introduction to Moonwort Systematics and a number of species treatments have been updated as indicated to reflect ongoing research on species relationships and distributions. Revisions of older sp...
www.herbarium.iastate.edu
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 PM
If insanity makes you curious, then try reading about Moonwort (Botrychidum) systematics.
www.herbarium.iastate.edu/moonwort-bot...
www.herbarium.iastate.edu/moonwort-bot...