3 66 BOTRYCHIUM. PAKT n. 



is shed the fronds die, but one or two buds are previously 

 formed at the base of the plant, which remain dormant 

 till the following spring. 1 



The genus Botrychium has few species, about half of 

 which grow in North America. Botrychium Lunaria, 

 or Moonwort, is the only species indigenous in Great 

 Britain. This plant, which is from five to six inches high, 

 has a rather long succulent stem, invested at the base 

 by the dark-coloured membranous remains of withered 

 leaves. It has one barren frond, the base of whose stem 

 is a sheath, through which the tall, fertile frond rises. 

 The barren frond has from three or four to seven pairs of 

 opposite smooth pinnae, of a lunate shape and glaucous 

 green colour, overlapping each other; they are smooth, 

 crenated on the margin, and occasionally lobed, which 

 gives them a fan shape. The fertile frond is longer than 

 the barren one, and ends in a panicle or thyrse. The 

 sporangia, which are large and bivalved, are disposed in 

 two regular series upon the divisions of the panicle, and 

 directed towards the upper or inner face of the frond. 

 This fructification bears a strong resemblance to that of 

 Osmunda regalis, the Flowering fern. 



The stem of this plant has been assumed to be solid 

 and branched, which is by no means the case ; for, upon 

 dissection, it is found to be hollow, and at its base 

 the fronds of the following year may be detected more 

 or less perfectly formed, and the rudimentary bud of the 

 succeeding year within the latter ; the position of the 

 barren and fertile fronds being reversed in the successive 

 developments. 



1 Charles Johnson, Esq. 



