Lygod:um. FILICES. ' 505 



Capsules ovale, gibbous on Uie outside, opening longiludinnlly on one side, and then 2-valved.* 

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



Western part of the Stale 1 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 Karitan 

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



Suborder III. OVmOGLOSSEM. R Br. The Adder's-tongue Tribe. 



Capsules roundish, one-celled, ad nate 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 cotnpound 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 spilie.] 



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-tongue. 



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

 hot. t. 108 ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 275 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 055 ; Bart, fl N. Afn. 2. t. 55. /. 2 ; 

 Torr. compend. p. 3S6 ; Beck, bat. p. 458 ; Darling/, fl. Cest. p. 586. 



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

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

 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 arc shorter than 

 the ovate-oblong or oblong-Lmceolate 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 loniritudinal. 



[Flora — Vol. 2.j 64 



