52 THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES. 



ward as if half inclined to coil 

 after the manner of the true ferns. 

 It seldom grows more than a few 

 inches high, twelve inches being 

 probably the maximum height. 

 The blade is usually sessile, longer 

 .than wide, and borne at or above 

 the middle of the stem. It is 

 usually pinnate, though some- 

 what disposed to vary, and has 

 from two to eight pairs of lobes 

 or pinnae which may be set close 

 together or some distance apart. 

 In outline, they are fan-shaped, 

 or with a rounded outer edge 

 which gives them enough the shape of a 

 half-moon to suggest the common name. 

 The fertile division is sometimes no longer 

 than the sterile and is twice or thrice pin- 

 nate. The frond is annual, dying at the 

 approach of winter. The bud for the next 

 year is enclosed in the base of the stipe. 



In the Old World, this plant was once 

 held in great repute for its supposed power 

 of working all sorts of wonders. Its old 

 names of " blasting-root " and " spring- 

 wurzel" were given it under the impres- 

 sion that the strongest locks would 

 give way if it were merely brought 

 in contact with them. To a more 

 matter-of-fact generation it will 

 doubtless seem strange that no one 

 thought to make a test of its pow- 



MOONWORT. Botrychiunt Lunaria. 



