:276 Proceedings of the Ohio State Academy of Science. 



Subclass, EUSPORANGIATAE. 



Sporangia arising from the tissues beneath the epidermis. 

 Order, Ophioglossdles. 

 '0 pliio glossaceae . Adder-tongue Family. 



Sporophyte more or less succulent with fleshy roots ; sporan- 

 gia opening by a transverse slit, spores yellow. Gametophyte sub- 

 terranean, without chlorophyll. 



I. Ophioglossum L. Adder-tongue. 



Low plants with simple leaves and sporangia in two rows 

 'on a slender sporangiophore. Veins reticulate. 

 1. Ophioglossum vulgdtum L. Adder-tongue. 



A low plant with a short rhizome and simple leaves, the 

 ■sporangia borne on a spike-like sporangiophore. In moist mead- 

 ows and thickets, on the ground. Rather generally distributed 

 In Ohio, but local and not common. 



2. Botry'chium Swz. Grape-fern. 

 Plants with a short erect rhizome and fleshy roots. Leaves 

 -pinnately or ternately divided or compound ; sporangiophore 

 l^ranched. Veins ending free. 



1. Leaf blade pinnate or ternate, sessile on the common petiole or on 

 a stalk not more than 1 inch in length. 2. 



1 . Leaf blade ternate ; on a stalk over 2 inches in length. 6. 



'2. Leaf blade more or less fleshy, pinnate or bipinnate, or if ternate 

 then small, not much over 2 inches long. 3. 



"2. Leaf blade membranous, ternately decompound vi'ith three main 

 sessile divisions, large; the sporangiophore stalked, usually 6 

 inches or more in length. Bud enclosed in a cavity at one side 

 of the base of the petiole B. virginianum. 



"3. Sporangiophore stalked, leaf blade usually pinnatifid, pinnate or bi- 

 pinnate, stalked or sometimes nearly sessile. 4. 



"3. Sporangiophore sessile or nearly so, leaf blade closely sessile on the 

 common petiole, 3-lobed and 2-pinnatifid B. lanceolatum. 



-4. Leaf blade simply pinnatifid or pinnate. 5. 



4. Leaf blade 2-pinnatifid or 2-pinnate, with narrow segments, oc- 

 casionally in 3 divisions B. neglectum. 



-o. Leaf blade usually short-stalked, pinnatifid or nearly entire; sporan- 

 giophore nearly simple or little branched B. simplex. 



