27 Botrychium multifidum (S. G. Gmel.) Rupr.

This polymorphic species occurs in Eurasia and N. America. Several subspecies and varieties are distinguished. The distribution of four of them is mapped here, as also B. ternatum (Thunb.) Sw. in the area from Japan to Himalaya. The present species (or closely related species) is also reported from Patagonia, Australia and New Zealand. For the complicated taxonomy and synonymy see Braun in Index N. Amer. Ferns 1938, Clausen in Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 19/1938, and Hultén, Amphi-atl., p. 272. The species s. lat. belongs to the amphi-atlantic plants according to Hultén, I. c. and map 253, although it has a tendency towards circumpolar distribution. Cf. also Meusel et al. 1965, map p. 11.