148 BOTRYCPIIUM VIRGINIANUM. RATTLE-SNAKE GRAPE-FERN. 



have this beautiful ideal remarkably well illustrated in the fern 

 before us. The innumerable litde thin and delicate leaflets on 

 the strong stipe and main divisions of the frond have a singu- 

 larly harmonious effect. For some reason, which we have never 

 seen analyzed in treatises on the theory of beauty, the mind 

 loves to trace resemblances in what it sees to pictures already 

 stored away. In this respect the Rattle-snake Grape-fern is con- 

 spicuous. In old times, before plants had a specific as well as a 

 generic name, writers referred to it chiefly in connection with 

 these resemblances. Plumier wrote of it as " the Osimmda, with 

 the roots like an Asphodel;" Clayton " the Liinaria, wAih. the 

 leaves of a Matricaria;'' and in more modern times Hooker 

 and Baker — " the leaf in its cutting resembles Anthriscus syhcs- 

 tris" The Latin specific names are also full of these suggestions. 

 Thus it has been called Botrychium ciciitariiim, and BotrycJiiiini 

 antJicmoidcs, — all these names from the resemblance to chamo- 

 mile, parsley or others among umbelliferous or composite plants. 



Outside of these more popular reflections, the critical botanist 

 will find the buds at the base of the stipes interesting, and Eaton 

 remarks that " the epidermis is composed of cellules with sinuous 

 margins." Its delicate fronds turn yellow in the fall, and wholly 

 disappear before winter sets in. 



In its geographical relations it is remarkable for the extent of 

 territory it covers. It is found as far south as Brazil, and sweeps 

 up through the eastern United States as far west as Texas, Ark- 

 ansas, Colorado and Kansas, extending then more westwardly 

 to Oregon, crossing to Asia, into Japan, and being found in some 

 of its forms in Northern Europe. It is, in all probability, one of 

 the oldest inhabitants of the globe, and has exhibited a tenacity 

 in holding its own through the ages that is very remarkable. 



Explanations OF THE Plate. — i. A full-sized stipe, with barren and fertile frond. 2. Fer- 

 tile frond. 3. Enlarged sporangia, showing the transverse openings and their relation at 

 a, a, to the divisions of the frond. 



