Branched Moonwort vs Long-tailed Sylph

Botrychium matricariifolium compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Branched Moonwort is Extinct while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Branched Moonwort	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Ophioglossales (Ophioglossales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Ophioglossaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Botrychium	Aglaiocercus
Species	Botrychium matricariifolium	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Branched Moonwort

EX — Extinct

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Branched Moonwort	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Branched Moonwort

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Branched Moonwort

The Branched moonwort (Botrychium matricariifolium) is a species in the genus Botrychium. It is currently classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway