BotrrycHiums or Mosite County BT 
Botrychium biternatum (Lam.) Underw., which is found 
from North Carolina to Florida and westward into 
Alabama (as given by Mohr in his Plant Life of Ala- 
bama), is found only in Mobile county. Botrychium 
Alabamense Maxon, which was separated from B. biter- 
natum a few years ago and given specific rank by Maxon, 
is found growing with B. biternatum and B. obliquum 
on the high land ten miles west of Mobile near the 
village of Spring Hill. B. Alabamense is the more 
common of the two. It is found commonly around 
Spring Hill and four or five miles to the west: To 
the north, near the town of Whistler, I found several 
plants growing. B. biternatum is quite rare in the 
county, growing only on Spring Hill in two small col- 
onies. There are two distinguishing characteristics 
which show the wisdom of separating the two species. 
They are the character of the growth, and the time 
of fruiting. In growing, B. Alabamense lifts the sterile 
frond from three to ten inches above the ground, while 
in all the several dozens of specimens of B. biternatum 
I have seen, I have never found one that held the sterile 
frond more than an inch above the ground. Usu- 
ally it lies spread out flat on the earth. The time of 
fruiting differs by several months. B. Alabamense 1s 
seen coming through the ground about the middle of 
July, and by the middle of September it begins fruiting, 
which is usually complete by the 15th of October. By 
the last of August B. biternatum is pushing through the 
ground, and by December the sterile frond is fully de- 
veloped. But it is the first of January before the fertile 
frond begins to show itself through the ground. By the 
first of March it is in full fruit. By this time the fertile 
fronds of B. Alabamense have withered and the sterile 
fronds are turning red and begining to die down. 
In size B. Alabamense is the larger, reaching a height 
of fifteen to eighteen inches. B. biternatum runs from 
three to seven inches. 
