60 THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES. 



pairs of opposite pinnae, the lowest pair, of course, much 

 the largest, as befits a Botrychium. The pinnae are them- 

 selves usually pinnatifid with lobed or sharp-toothed seg- 

 ments, but show a decided tendency to vary. In general 

 aspect, the blade resembles a very small specimen of the 

 rattlesnake fern. The fertile portion but slightly overtops 

 the sterile and is twice or thrice pinnate. In the southern 

 part of its range, the spores are ripe about the last week 

 in July. 



Botrychium lanceolatum is found from New Jersey, 

 Ohio, Colorado and Washington to the far north. South- 

 ward it appears to be an upland species and should be 

 sought in moist level stretches of deciduous woods. In 

 such places it is often found very plentifully over several 

 acres. One of its constant companions is the rattlesnake 

 fern. The species is also found in both Europe and Asia. 

 The illustrations for this and the following species were 

 drawn from specimens collected by the author at Ararat, 

 Penna., where they were found growing in company. 



Matricary Grape Fern. 



All that has been said of the lance-leaved grape fern, 

 may with equal truth be applied to the matricary grape 

 fern (Botrychium matricaricefoliuin) with which it is al- 

 most invariably associated. Good botanists have often 

 held that the two are but different forms of the same 

 species. There are many intergrading forms, but each 

 type remains fairly constant in a few particulars that 

 seem to warrant us in considering them distinct. The 

 most important is the difference in the time of fruiting. 

 The present species fruits nearly a month earlier than 

 lanceolatum, its spores often ripening by the middle of 



