OPHIOGLOSSACE.E. 27 



or the Adder's-tongue is parasitic, yet fern-growers seem to think it 

 cannot be cultivated for any length of time unless grown in a tuft of 

 grass. Mr. Newman goes the length of saying that it should be dug 

 up with a large sod and placed in a pot, and the grass kept short 

 with a pair of scissors, and watered in dry weather " for the purpose 

 of keeping the grass green and vigorous ;" and Mr. Moore states that 

 Mr. "Wollaston, one of the most successful cultivators of Ferns, has 

 told him " that he finds that to keep the plant over the second year, 

 it is absolutely necessary to grow it in a tuft of grass." I have 

 grown plants of it for 4 years in an unheated greenhouse without 

 any herbage about it, and it thrives well. The plants were taken up 

 in June, the whole of the surrounding grass removed, but the soil 

 left about the roots. They were potted in light loam from mole- 

 hills in the field where they grew, interspersed with fragments of 

 limestone for drainage, and received no attention except removing 

 any extraneous plant that appeared in the pot. Previously, I had 

 tried growing it with grass, and found the grass flourished and the 

 Botrychium died. I suspect each frond is short-lived, as in the wild 

 state it is often not seen for years in a spot where it has been found. 



Moon-wort. 



EXCLUDED SPECIES. 



BOTRYCHIUM RUTACEUM. Schwartz. 



B. matricariifolium, A. Braun. Milde, Fil. Europ. p. 195. 

 B. Lunaria, var. 8, Sm. Eng. FL Yol. IT. p. 328. 



The supposed authority for this is a passage in Ray's ' Synopsis/ 

 where he mentions a plant, " Lunariam minorem ramosam et Lunariam 

 min. fol. dissectis. Westmoreland. D. Lawson hujus plantae varie- 

 tates esse; non distinctas species opinatur. D. Doody ('Syn.' 11. 

 App. 340) Lunariam minorem foliis dissectis revera distinctam 

 speciem vult, cum segmenta seu lunulas non solum eminenter sint sectae, 

 sed planta etiam elatior sit et botrus racemosior. Est Lunaria botrytis 

 minor pinnulis laciniatis in Borealibus nostris (Pluk. Ann. 288). 

 Mr. Doody received it from Sir Thomas YYillughby, but " hath since 

 seen it several times gathered by our herbwomen." (Raii ' Syn.' 129.) 



From this passage Mr. Newman draws the following conclusions : — 



" 1. That Ray supposed there were two British species of Botry- 

 chium distinct from Lunaria. 



" 2. That Mr. Lawson thought them both varieties of Lunaria. 



E 2 



