FILICES. (ferns.) G71 



natifid into broadly oblong obtuse divisions ; fertile fronds separate, from the 

 same rootstock, contracted, twice pinnate, covered with the cinnamon-colored 

 sporangia. — Var. frond6sa is a rare occasional state, in which some of the 

 fronds are sterile below and more sparsely fertile at their summit. ((). Clay- 

 toniana, Conrad, not ofL.) — Rarely such fronds are fertile in the middle. — 

 Swamps and low copses, everywhere. May. — Growing in large bunches ; the 

 fertile fronds in the centre, perfecting fruit as they unfold, 1° -2° long, decay- 

 ing before the sterile fronds (at length 4° -5° high) get their growth. 



21. BOTEYCHIUM, Swartz. Moonwort. (PI. 19.) 

 Eootstock very short, erect, with clustered fleshy roots (which are full of 

 starch, in very minute, irregular granules !) ; the base of the naked stalk con- 

 taining the bud for the next year's frond : frond with an anterior fertile and 

 a posterior sterile segment; the former mostly 1-3-pinnate, the contracted 

 divisions bearing a double row of sessile naked sporangia; these are distinct, 

 rather coriaceous, not reticulated, globular, without a ring, and open transverse- 

 ly into two valves. Sterile segment of the frond ternately or pinnatcly divided 

 or compound ; veins all free. Spores copious, sulphur-color. (Name a dimin- 

 utive of fiorpvs, a cluster of grapes, from the appearance of the fructification.) 

 * Sterile portion of the frond sessile or nearly so on the upper part of the common stalk. 



1. B. Lunaria, Swartz. Sterile segment nearly sessile, borne near the mid- 

 dle of the common stalk, oblong, simply pinnate with 5-15 lunate or fan-shaped 

 very obtuse crenate, incised or nearly entire, fleshy divisions, more or less excised 

 at the base on the lower or on both sides, the veins radiating from the base and 

 repeatedly forking; fertile segment panicled, 2-3-pinnate. — Lake Superior 

 (Lesquereux), and sparingly northward. — Plant 4' -10' high, very fleshy 

 throughout. (Eu.) 



2. B. simplex, Hitchcock. Fronds small (2' -4', rarely 5' -6' high), the 

 sterile segment short-petioled from the middle or upper part of the common stalk, thick- 

 ish and fleshy, simple and roundish, or pinnately 3-7-lobed; the lobes roundish- 

 obovate, nearly entire, decurrent on the broad and flat indeterminate rhachis ; 

 the veins all forking from the base ; fertile segment simple or 1 - 2-pinnate. — Maine 

 to New York, and northward : rare. 



3. B. lanceolatum, Angstrcem. Fronds small (3' -8' high); the sterile 

 segment closrly sessile near the top of the long and slender common stalk, somewhat 

 fleshy, in the smallest ones 3-lobed, in larger ones broadly triangular, ternately 

 twice pinnati fid ; the divisions lanceolate, incised or toothed; veins forking from a 

 midvein; fertile part 2-3-pinnate. (B. simplex of former ed.) — New England 

 and New Jersey (C. F. Austin) to Ohio and northward: rare. July. 



4. B. Virginicum, Swartz. Fronds tall and ample; sterile segment sessile 

 above the middle of the common stalk, broadly triangular, thin and membranaceous, 

 ternate ; the short-stalked primary divisions once or twice pinnate, and then once or 

 twice pinnatifid ; the oblong lobes cut-toothed towards the apex ; veins forking 



from a midvein; fertile part 2-3-pinnate. — Plant l°-2° high, or often reduced 

 to a few inches, when it is B. gracile, Pursh. — Rich woods : common. June, 

 July. 



