THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES. 



ITH the exception of the rattlesnake and 

 common grape ferns, the members of the 

 Botrychium family, although somewhat 

 widely dispersed in eastern America, are 

 very little known, even to the botanizing 

 public. In the books they are usually set 

 down as rare, but whether this is really 

 the case, or whether their small size enables them to es- 

 cape observation, it is difficult to say. It is pos- 

 sible to find most of our ferns by diligent search in 

 suitable situations but the Botrychiums usually elude 

 such attempts to discover them and are likeliest to 

 appear when one is looking for something else. Once 

 discovered, they are often found in considerable numbers 

 and are not rare in collections, although comparatively 

 few have seen them growing. 



'The Moonwort. 



The moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) is a fat little 

 plant that delights to grow in old fields in many parts of 

 the world but is exceedingly rare in the United States. 

 Like all the Botrychiums it bears but one frond annually, 

 divided after the usual manner into a fertile and sterile 

 portion. This comes up out of the earth stiff and erect 

 although the tip of the sterile part is slightly bent down- 



