MOONWORT. 99 



whose outer margin may be entire, variously notched or round- 

 toothed, or more deeply lobed. The fertile division, unlike that 

 of the Adder's-tongue, is twice pinnate, the pinnae taking the 

 form of short branches which bear, on the surfaces facing 

 the barren blade, rows of globular leathery capsules which contain 

 the spores and split across into two valves. These capsules, 

 at first green, afterwards become reddish-brown. The frond 

 makes its appearance in April, and from June to August the 

 spores are ripe ; after they have been dispersed the frond soon 

 perishes. (Plates 105, 108.) 



Moonwort is widely distributed in Great Britain and Ireland, 

 and in the Highlands it ascends to 2700 feet ; but it is by no 

 means so plentiful as the Adder's-tongue, and its habitat is 

 more on dry heaths and downs than the damp pastures affected 

 by Ophioglossum. Its wider distribution includes nearly the 

 whole of Europe, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, and the 

 temperate and cold regions of both hemispheres. 



A second species, Botrychium matricariafoliiim, was reported 

 to have been found at Stevenston, Ayrshire ("Journal of Botany," 

 1898), but the record appears to be in need of confirmation. 



The generic name Botrychium is derived from the Greek 

 botrys, a cluster of grapes, which the clustered sori are 

 supposed to resemble. Lunaria is Latin, and relates to the 

 moon-shaped pinnae, from which comes also the English name. 

 This name has long been in use, and the plant figures under it 

 in all the early botanical works. 



It is really surprising that so small and fugacious a plant 

 should have attracted so much attention, but it was credited 

 with the power of being an efficient aid to the burglar of the 

 period, and to all those who were under the constraint of locks, 

 bolts, or bars. If Moonwort could be obtained and applied to 

 the lock, the latter would at once cease to be a fastening. 

 Even the shoes nailed on the feet of horses that might venture 

 across the heath where Moonwort grew would be affected and 



