HOEFFERLE, ANN M. Northern Ecological Services, Inc., P.O. Box 54, Reed City, MI 49677. - Impacts of aerial leaf removal on subsequent year reappearance and size of leaves of the daisy leaf moonwort (Botrychium matricariifolium) and the triangle moonwort (Botrychium lanceolatum var. angustisegmentum).
The impacts of aerial leaf (trophophore and sporophore) removal on
reappearance and trophophore size the following year was studied in
two species of moonworts (Botrychium subgenus Botrychium). Aerial
leaves of B. matricariifolium and B. lanceolatum
angustisegmentum were removed either before spore release in the
spring or after spore release in the late summer. Leaf removal did not
have an impact on the percent re-emergence of leaves the following
year, regardless of the time of removal. Aerial leaf removal before
spore release also had no impact on the size of leaves (i.e. length
and width of trophophore and the length of the basal pinna) produced
the following year. However, in plants having their leaves removed
after spore release, the size of the next year's leaves were
significantly smaller than control plants of the same year. This
suggests that some of the energy expended in the maturation of spores
may need to be recovered from the above-ground structures in order to
produce the same size aerial leaf the next year. Removing the
above-ground leaf before sporulation allows the plant to retain
sufficent energy reserves to produce the same size leaf the following
year.
Key words: Botrychium lanceolatum var. angustisegmentum, Botrychium matricariifolium, leaf removal, Ophioglossaceae