2 OPHIOGLOSSACEAE 



2. Ophioglosaum Engelmannii Prantl. Kootstock cylindric. Stem 8-22 cm. high, 

 bearing a leaf ; blade elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 3-9 cm. long, sharply apiculate, fleshy 

 but becoming pellucid ; 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 to Indiana, Missouri, Texas and Arizona. 



3. Ophioglossum pusillum Nutt. Kootstock slightly thickened. Stem slender, 

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

 basal veins 3, the midvein branching by lateral veinlets which form narrow areolae with no 

 free veinlets : spikes 6-12 mm. long, with 6-14 sporanges on either side. [ 0. nudicaule 

 Chapm., not L. f.] 



In sandy soil, Georgia to Florida and Louisiana. 



4. Ophioglossum crotalophoroides Walt. Kootstock globose. Stem relatively 

 stout, bearing one leaf ; blade concave, broadly ovate, 8-30 mm. long, with a cordate base 

 and acute apex ; basal veins 5, the midvein rarely branched, the lateral veins freely anas- 

 tomosing, forming short hexagonal areolae with rarely a free veinlet : spikes broad, 4-12 

 mm. long, with 4-11 sporanges on either side. 



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



2. CHEIROGLOSSA Presl. 



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

 ing several spikes near their bases. Veins reticulated ; the areolae without free veinlets. 



1. Cheiroglossa palmata ( L. ) Presl. Kootstock tuberous, covered with fine woolly 

 chaff. Leaves fleshy ; blades 10-25 cm. long, on a stem nearly as long, palmately divided 

 into 2-9 broadly spreading lobes, or rarely entire and lanceolate : spikes 2-16, or rarely 1, 

 short-stalked, 2.5 cm. long or more. [ Ophioglossum palmatum L.] 



On palmettos, Florida and tropical America. 



3. BOTRYCHIUM Sw. , 



Fleshy plants, with erect rootstocks, and clustered fleshy roots, the bud for the succeed- 

 ing year imbedded in the base of the stem. Leaf-blade pinnately or ternately divided, or 

 compound. Sporophyll pinnate or 3-pinnate, with sessile distinct sporanges in rows on 

 either side of its branches, forming large panicles in some species. Veins free. Spores 

 yellow. MOONWORT. 



Bud for the following year enclosed in the base of the stem : leaf-blades ternate or biternate, attached 



near the base of the common stem. 



Leaf-blades sessile or nearly so : spores maturing in early spring. 1. B. biternatum. 



Leaf-blades stalked : spores maturing in fall. 



Leaf-blade biternate, thin. 2. B. tenutfolium. 



Leaf-blade ternate, with bipinnate or tripinnate divisions, fleshy. 3. B. obliquum. 



Bud enclosed in a cavity at one side of the base of the stem : leaf-blades ternate, 



decompound, sessile at the middle of the stem. 4. B. Virglnianum. 



1. Botrychium biternatum (Lam.) Underw. Plant 6-10 cm. high, bearing a single 

 leaf ; blade sessile or nearly so, ternately compound, 8-10 cm. wide, 5 cm. long, with the 

 middle division slightly larger than the lateral ones and like them nearly 3-pinnate ; ulti- 

 mate segments somewhat lunate, usually 5-6 mm. wide, the outer margin crenate, the 

 lateral margins decurrent on the rachis : sporophyll on a stalk 8 cm. long or longer, 2- 

 pinnate : bud smooth or slightly pilose. 



On dry grassy knolls, South Carolina to Louisiana. The spores mature in March or April. 



2. Botrychium tenuifolium Underw. A slender plant with a biternate leaf-blade. 

 Stems very slender, 2-4 cm. long, 1-1.5 mm. thick : leaf-blade 3.5-5 cm. long, 3-6 cm. 

 wide, usually consisting of nine segments, the primary divisions nearly equal, or the termi- 

 nal one sometimes slightly more divided ; segments ovate, 1.2-1.5 cm. long by 6-8 mm. 

 wide, thin, sharply serrate, or nearly 2- or 3-incised ; petiole 3-6.5 cm. long, very slender ; 

 panicle 3-6 cm. long, bipinnate or basely tripinnate below on a slender stalk, 6-22 cm. long. 



In low grounds, Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. The spores mature in fall. 



3. Botrychium obliquum Muhl. Plant robust, 1.5-5 dm. high. Leaf rising from 

 near the base of the stem on a stalk 2-10 cm. long, or more ; blade ternate, with the three 

 divisions nearly equal, 2-pinnate or somewhat 3-pinnatifid in larger forms, the ultimate 

 segments obliquely ovate or oblong-lanceolate, the terminal one of each division elongated, 

 1-2 cm. long, the margins crenate or serrate: sporophyll long-stalked, 3-4-pinnate : bud 

 densely pilose, both portions bent in vernation. [B. ternatum Chapm., not Sw.] 



In low woods and open places from New Brunswick to Minnesota, south to Florida and Mexico. 

 The spores mature from August to October. 



