204 The Feex Lover's Compaxiox 



(7) Rattlesnake Ferx. Botrychium rirginianum 



Fronds six inches to two feet high. Sterile segment 

 sessile abo^'e the middle of the plant, broadly triangular, 

 thin, membranaceous, ternate. Pinnules lanceolate, deeply 

 pinnatifid; ultimate segments olilong or lanceolate and 

 scarcely or not at all spatulate. Fertile i)art long-stalked, 

 two to three pinnate, its ultimate segments narrow and 

 thick, nearly opaque in dried specimens. Mature spor- 

 angia varying from dark yellow-brown to almost black. 

 Open sporangia close again and are flattened or of a 

 lenticular form. In rich, deciduous woods, rather com- 

 mon and widely distributed. 



Prince Edward Island, Minnesota, south to Florida 

 and Texas, and north to Xe"s\'foundland and Labrador. 



^ ar. gracilis. A form much reduced in size. 



Var. LAUREXTiAXXii. A conspicuous variety having 

 thick and hea^y sterile fronds less finely divided than the 

 type, with the segments crowded to OA'erlajiping. Pinnules 

 shorter than the type, tending to be ovate, outer segments 

 strongly spatulate. Fertile spike ^elati^"ely short and 

 stout, strongly paniculate when well de\'eloped. Llti- 

 mate segments flat, folaceous, one mm. wide. Mostly 

 confined to the limestone district near the Gulf of St. 

 La^Tcnce, Labrador, XeT\-foundland, Quebec, Elaine, and 

 Michigan. 



Var. iXTEBiiEDiTTii. Segments of sterile fronds ulti- 

 mately much spatulate, previously ovate, not overlapping. 

 Segments of fertile fronds ultimately narrowly flattened. 

 (For this and the other varieties see Rhodora of September, 



