Lygodium. FILICES. 505 



Capsules ovate, gibbous on the outside, opening longitudinally on one side, and then 2-valved.* 

 Involucre membranaceous, attached to the vein on the lower edge ; the upper edge free. 



Western part of the Stale ? I inserted this plant in my catalogue, which was printed in 

 the Geological Report of New-York for 1840, under the impression that it had been found 

 within our limits. It appears, however, that the specimens to which I alluded, were collected 

 in the northern part of Pennsylvania, near the New- York line. It grows near the Raritan 

 river, below New-Brunswick, in New-Jersey, and will doubtless be found in our own State. 



Suborder III. OPHIOGLOSSEtE. i2. 5r. The Adder's-tongue Tribe. 



Capsules roundish, one-celled, adnate at the base, coriaceous and opaque, without 

 a rirg, sometimes connate, half 2-valved. — Rhizoma creeping or short, not 

 scaly : roots often fleshy and fasciculate. Fronds entire or divided, with the 

 veins reticulated or free. Fructification in simple or compound spikes. Ver- 

 nation straight. 



19. OPIIIOGLOSSUM. Linn.; Endl. gen. no. 671. adder' s-TONGUE. 



[From the Greek, ophis, a serpent, and glossa, a tongue ; from the appearance of the spike.] 



Capsules roundish, smooth, naked, opening transversely, disposed in a 2-ranked, simple, 

 linear spike. Involucre none. — Frond entire, with reticulated veins. Spike pedunculate. 



1. Ophioglossum vulgatum, Linn. Common Adder' s-tong'ue. 



Frond oblong or ovate, obtuse ; spike cauline ; root fibrous. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 1062 ; Engl. 

 hot. t. 108 ; Michx. ft. 2. p. 275 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 655 ; Bart. ft. N. Am. 2. t. 55. /. 2; 

 Torr. compend. p. 3S6 ; Beck, hot. p. 458 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 586. 



Root consisting of a tuft of thick fleshy fibres. Slipe smooth and succulent, 6-10 inches 

 long, bearing about the middle the single sessile frond. This is from 1-3 inches long, 

 varying from broadly ovate to ovate-oblong. Spike about an inch long, compressed, appearing 

 articulated, bearing along each margin a row of small capsules, which are cohering, and finally 

 open transversely by two valves. 



Low moist woods and meadows : rare. Fr. June. Our plant is altogether like the Euro- 

 pean. A dwarf state of this species has been found on a dry hill at Exeter, Otsego county, 

 in which the whole plant is not more than one or two inches high ; but my specimens, which 

 were received from Dr. Gray, are not mature. The spike and its peduncle are shorter than 

 the ovate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate frond. This is the plant alluded to by Dr. Beck (hot. 

 p. 458), as, perhaps, a new species of Ophioglossum. 



» In our figure, an irregular transverse dehiscence is represented, instead of the regular one, which is longitudinal. 

 [Floka — Vol. 2.j 64 



