THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES. 
r ae ITH the exception of the rattlesnake and 
common grape ferns, the members of the 
Botrychium family, although somewhat 
widely dispersed in eastern America, are 
very little known, even to the botanizing 
public. In the books they are usually set 
down as rart, but whether this is really 
the case, or whether their small size enables them to es- 
cape observation, it is difficult to say. It is pos 
sible to find most of our ferns by diligent search in 
suitable situations but the Botrychiums usually elude 
such attempts to discover them and are likeliest to 
appear when one is looking for something else. Once 
discovered, they are often found in considerable numbers 
and are not rare in collections, although comparatively 
few have seen them growing. 
The Moonwort. 
The moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) is a fat little 
plant that delights to grow in old fields in many parts of 
the world but is exceedingly rare in the United States. 
Like all the Botrychiums it bears but one frond annually, 
divided after the usual manner into a fertile and sterile 
portion. This comes up out of the earth stiff and erect 
although the tip of the sterile part is slightly bent down- 
