The Moonwart Fern 



bearing branch. The surface of this branch is covered 

 with closely-arranged round spore capsules which split 

 transversely, as the spore cases of the last-mentioned 

 fern do. The leafy part of the frond which is from 

 J- to 2 inches long, is pinnately divided into semi- 

 circular or crescent-shaped pinnae, which are either 

 entire or toothed. The rootstock, which is small and 

 tuberous with fleshy roots, has the bud of the next 

 year's frond concealed at its apex. Many magical 

 powers were ascribed to this fern by the botanists of 

 other days. Locks flew open when the Moonwort 

 Fern was inserted into the keyhole, and one fairy tale 

 is told of a certain Earl, whose horse lost its shoes 

 through the nails falling out, as he rode over a moor 

 carpeted with Moonwort Ferns. 



Botanists know this fern as Botrychium lunaria. 

 Botrychium comes from a Greek word meaning " a 

 cluster," a reference to the closely-arranged sori on the 

 fertile branches of the fronds. Lunaria is derived 

 from the Latin word luna, "the moon," and was 

 applied to this fern because of the shape of the pinnae 

 on the leafy part of the frond. No general description 

 has been given of the genera Osmunda, Ophioglossum, 

 and 'Botrychium^ as each of them contains only one 

 British species, fully described in this chapter. 



39 



