2 OPHIOGLOSSACEAE 



1. Ophioglossum vulgitum L. Eootstock oblique or erect. Leaf slender, 1-4 

 dm. tall, glabrous; blade near the middle, sessile, ovate or elliptie-oblong, 3-12 cm. 

 long, rather firm in texture, distinctly reticulated, with few veinlets within the 

 areolae; basal veins 9-13: spike 1-2.5 cm. long, apiculate. 



In moist meadows and thickets. Prince Edward Island to Ontario, south to Florida. 

 Also in Europe and Asia. May to August. 



2. Ophioglossum Engelmdnnii Prantl. Eootstock cylindric. Leaves 2-5, mostly 

 fertile, 8-22 cm. high, the common stalk sheathed by old bases; blade elliptic or 

 rarely ovate, 3-9 cm. long, apiculate, fleshy, pellucid upon drying; basal veins 13 or 

 more, the transverse veinlets oblique, forming broad oblong-hexagonal areolae with 

 numerous veinlets: spike 1.5-2.5 cm. long, apiculate. 



In moist grounds, Virginia and Indiana to Louisiana, Texas and Arizona. 



3. Ophioglossum t6nerum Mett. Eootstock slightly thickened. Leaf slender, 

 2.5-4 cm. high; blade near the base, lanceolate or ovate with a cuneate base; basal 

 veins 3, the midvein branching by lateral veinlets, these forming narrow areolae with 

 no free veinlets: spikes 6-12 mm. long. [0. pusillum Nutt., not Eaf.] 



In sandy soil, Georgia to Florida and Louisiana. 



4. Ophioglossum crotalophoroides Walt. Eootstock globose. Leaf relatively 

 stout; blade concave, ovate-cordate, 8-30 mm. long, acute; basal veins 5, the midvein 

 rarely branched, the lateral veins freely anastomosing, forming short hexagonal 

 areolae with rarely a free veinlet: spikes broad, 4-12 mm. long. 



In sandy soil, South Carolina to Florida and Texas. Also in tropical America. 



2. CHEIROGLOSSA Presl. 

 Epiphytic plants, with slender fleshy roots. Leaf-blades palmately lobed, the 

 short spikes borne at or near the base of the blade. Veins reticulated; areolae 

 without free veinlets. 



1. Chelroglossa palmata (L.) Presl. Eootstock tuberous, covered with fine 

 woolly chaff. Leaves fleshy; blades 10-25 cm. long, palmately divided into 2-9 broadly 

 spreading lobes, or rarely entire and lanceolate: spikes 2-16, or rarely 1, 2.5 cm. 

 long or more. [Ophioglossum palmatum L.] 



On palmettos, peninsular Florida. Also in tropical America. 



3. BOTRYCHIUM Sw. 



Fleshy terrestrial plants with erect rootstocks bearing clustered fleshy roots and 

 1 to 3 erect leaves, these consisting of a short cylindric wholly or partially hypogean 

 common stalk bearing at its summit a 1-3-pinnately compound or decompound free- 

 veined sterile blade and a long-stalked fertile spike or 1-4-pinnate panicle (sporo- 

 phyl) with numerous distinct globular sporanges in 2 rows, sessile or nearly so. Bud 

 for the following season at the apex of the rootstock, enclosed within the base of the 

 common stalk, either wholly concealed or visible along one side. Moonwort. 



Bud for the following year wholly concealed within the base of the common stalk; cells of the 

 epidermis straight. 

 Blades sessile or nearly so; spores maturing in early spring. 1. B. biternatum. 



Blades long-stalked; spores maturing in fall. 



Segments ovate or oblong-lanceolate, crenulate to serrulate. 2. B. ohliquum. 



Segments obovate, broader than long, fimbriate. 3. B. Alabamense. 



Bud for the following season exposed along one side; cells of the epidermis 



flexuous. 4. B. Virginianum. 



1. Botrychium biternktum (Lam.) Underw. Leaf 6-10 cm. high, the common 

 stalk hypogean; blade close to the ground, sessile or nearly so, 5-9 cm. broad, 3-6 

 cm. long, ternately divided, the middle division slightly larger than the lateral ones 

 and like them nearly 3-pinnate; ultimate segments somewhat lunate, usually 5-6 mm. 

 wide, the outer margin serrulate, the lateral margins deeurrent: panicle lax, 1-3 cm. 

 long, on stalks 4.5-9 cm. long: bud smooth or slightly pilose. 



On dry grassy knolls, South Carolina to Louisiana. Matures in March or April. 



2. Botrychium obliquum Muhl. Leaves 1-5 dm. high, the common stalk 

 short, hypogean; blade usually long-stalked, commonly 5-12 cm. broad, subternately 

 divided, the divisions stalked, nearly equal, 1-2-pinnate or somewhat 3-pinnatifid in 

 larger forms, the segments obliquely ovate to lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, the 



