— 13— 



Fruit borne on two or more pairs of much contracted pinna in 

 the middle of an otherwise unchanged frond. This species 

 fruits as the fronds unroll. 



O. cinnamomea L. Cinnamon Fern. Very common in all low 

 grounds. Fronds in a circular clump, the sterile pinnate with 

 the pinna- pinnatifid, the fertile fronds much contracted, covered 

 with cinnamon-colored sporangia, appearing earlier than the 

 sterile ones. The fronds of this species are occasionally used as 

 a pot-herb, being picked as they begin to unroll in spring. The 

 so-called variety frottdosa is a form midway between the fertile 

 and sterile fronds. 



OPHIOQLOSSACE/E. 



BOTRYCHIUM Sw. 



B. simplex E. Hitchcock. Moonwort. Swamp at the head of 

 Bennett's Lane, Oxford, 1S86, Coville. Unadilla Forks; rare, 

 Brown. The only stations. 



B. lanceolatum (S. G. Gmel.) Angs. Lanceolate Moonwort. 

 Woods at ba^e of Mt. Markham, Brown. In the same situations 

 as the following and almost invariably accompanying it, Coville. 



B. matricariaefolium A. Br. Rare. Woods at base of Mt. Mark- 

 ham, Brown. Beech and maple woods at various points in 

 Oxford and Preston, Coville. 



B. ternatum (Thunb. ) Sw. Ternate Moonwort. Grape Fern. 

 Plentiful on dryish knolls. Sterile portion of the plant broadly 

 triangular, ternate and variously divided. Fertile portion erect- 

 often four times pinnate. Our common form of the plant may 

 be referred to the variety obliqiium. A form with the seg- 

 ments cut into narrow lobes or teeth is occasionally found and 

 is the variety dissectum. This species is excellent for cultiva- 

 tion in the fern garden. 



B. Virginianum (L. ) Sw. Rattlesnake Fern. Grape Fern. 

 Virginian Moonwort. Common in rich, moist woods through- 

 out our range. In appearance like the preceding, except that 

 the plant is taller with thinner fronds. It is found much earlier 

 in the season than B. ternatum. There is a wide difference in 

 the size of the fruiting fronds of this species which does not seem 

 to be due to any outward cause. 



