OPHIOGLOSSACEAE. 



i. Ophioglossum vulgatum L. Adder's- 

 tongue. (Fig. i.) 



Ophioglossum i-ulgatitm L. Sp. PI. 1062. 1753. 



Rootstock short, oblique ; stem slender, erect, sim- 

 ple, glabrous, 2 / -i2 / high, bearing the sessile thin 

 ovate or elliptic-oblong leaf (sterile segment) near its 

 middle; sterile segment \'-T>' long, V z f -\%' wide, 

 rather firm in texture, distinctly reticulated; spike 

 solitary, J^'-i' long, erect, the axis extending beyond 

 the sporanges into a point. 



In moist meadows and thickets, or sometimes on dry- 

 hillsides, Prince Edward Island to Alaska, south to New 

 Jersey, Kentucky and Arizona. Also in Europe, Asia, 

 Africa and Australia. May-Aug. 



2. BOTRYCHIUM S\v. Schrad. Journ. Bot. 2 : 8. 1800. 



Fleshy plants with short erect rootstocks, and clustered fleshy roots, the bud for the 

 succeeding year imbedded in the base of the stem. Sterile portion (leaf) pinnately or ter- 

 nately divided or compound, the fertile portion pinnate or tripinnate with sessile distinct 

 sporanges in rows on either side of its branches, forming large panicles in some species. 

 Veins free. Spores of various shades of yellow. [Greek, in allusion to the grape-like 

 clusters of sporanges.] 



About 10 species, mostly natives of the northern hemisphere, one or two occurring in Australia. 

 Besides the following, another, B. boreale, occurs in Alaska. 



Bud for the following year enclosed in the base of the stem : plants mostly small. 



Vernation wholly straight ; sterile portion simple or 2-5-lobed. i. B. simplex. 



Vernation partly inclined in one or both portions. 



Buds glabrous ; sterile portion pinnate ; small plants, mature in early summer. 

 Sterile portion alone bent in vernation, its segments fan-shaped. 



2. B. Lunar ia. 

 Both portions bent in vernation ; segments of sterile portion narrow. 



3. B. matricariaefoliuni. 

 Bud pilose ; sterile portion ternate, long-stalked ; larger plants, mature in autumn. 



4. B. ternatum. 

 Vernation wholly inclined, recurved in the fertile portion ; sterile portion triangular, sessile. 



5. B. lanceolatiim. 



Bud enclosed in a cavity at one side of the base of the stem ; sterile portion ternate and compound ; 

 plant large. 6. B. rirgin;anni. 



i. Botrychium simplex E. Hitchcock. 

 Little Grape-fern. (Fig. 2.) 



/;////;/ ?///>/,- H. Hitchcock, Amer. Journ. Sci. 6: icv 

 1823- 



Plant 2'-;' high, slender, very variable. Sterile por- 

 tion ovate, obovate or oblong, entire, lobed or pinnately 

 parted, borne near the base of the stem or higher, some- 

 times above the middle; fertile portion a simple or 

 slightly compound spike, sometimes reduced to only a 

 few sporanges; spores large for the genus, minutely 

 tuberculate; bud for the following year enclosed in the 

 but of the stem ; apex of both fertile and sterile portions 

 erect in vernation. 



In moim wood* meadows or swamps. Prince Edward 

 [Und t.. M.irvl m.l. w.-xt t,, Wyoming ami California. Also 

 in northern Europe. May -June 



