28 October 2014
The Short Answer (TSA)
It’s a
plant. The formal name is Botrychium lunaria. But, I guess. to its
friends, it’s known as the Moonwort. As plants go, the Moonwort seems the
very definition of hidden. These plants are rare. Or, maybe
not. What I mean to say is that even if you are standing right over one
of these plants, you would likely not be able to find it.
But how did
it get the name “Moonwort”? Well, whoever discovered it, many centuries
ago, thought its leaves looked like half moons. I sort of see it . . . in a
way.
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Moon-Shaped Leaves?
The
Moonwort, when it rises above the ground, has two stems and looks like two
different plants. One stem has the “moon shaped” leaves and round pods
full of spores. (It’s a fern, so they’re “spores” instead of
“seeds.”) The other stem is the plain leafy part of the plant with leaves
shaped . . . like leaves. Or, at least, there’s nothing even remotely
moon-like about the shape of the leaves on the other stem.
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Moonwort
Most ferns
like moisture, but the Moonwort grow in relatively dry areas with alkaline
(chalky) soils. Sand dunes, inland cliffs, and well drained meadows are
its favorite homes in parts of the U.K. In the U.S., the Moonwort is
found (when it can be found) in prairie, forest and mountain areas. The
Moonwort doesn’t like deserts, but it doesn’t like damp areas either – like
most of its fellow ferns.
Sometimes,
the Moonwart will grow to up to 3 inches above the ground. Then, you can see
one. This particular plant doesn’t like growing in laboratories or in any other
kind of domesticated conditions, so it’s difficult to study. Your chances of
just happening upon a Moonwort, when it’s growing above the ground, are not so
good.
When it’s
growing above the ground?
Yes, that’s
what you read. What’s really just plain weird about the Moonwort is that it can
grow completely below the ground for up to 10 years at a time. Again, you read
correctly. The Moonwort can grow completely below the ground (no sunlight) for,
sometimes, as long as 10 years at a time.
How does
the Moonwort manage this sun-less life style?
This really
unusual plant is sunlight optional. It can grow above the ground and produce
its nourishment with sunlight (photosynthesis). Or it can stay below the ground
and get its food from another plant, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, know by the
more manageable name, “AM fungi.”
The AM
fungi produce a carbon by-product on which the Moonwort feeds. The moonwort
doesn’t even need its own kind to reproduce. When it grows entirely under the
ground, it gives up making spores. New young Moonwort plants just bud and grow
from the “mother” plant’s root (and, when it’s below ground, the Moonwort is
all root).
The
Moonwort seems to be hiding. Ironically, this may be what attracted attention
to it several centuries ago. This small fern actually had quite a reputation in
some circles. I can only guess that its weird existence and, apparent, love of
privacy, drew the very attention it was trying to avoid. And, possibly, that’s
why this fern got a reputation for mysterious and magical qualities.
A few
centuries ago, this small hidden fern enjoyed a reputation as an ingredient
used by the old alchemists. The Moonwort was supposed to be part of a chemical
concoction that could turn lead into gold. Of course, the trick was to mix-up
the potion just right. As there are no records of any of these same alchemists
dying rich, I might say that, just maybe, the Moonwort’s gold-making reputation
was . . . exaggerated.
Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville,
Illinois
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