508 



FILICES. 



BoTRYCHIUM. 



20. BOTRYCHIUM. Swartz, Fil. p. 171 ; Endl. gen. no. 674. 



MOON-WORT. 



[From the Greek, bolrys, a bunch of grapes ; the fructification having somewhat that form.] 



Bote. y pus, Michx. 



Capsules somewhat globose, sessile, smooth, distinct, clustered on a compound pinnated 

 rachis. Involucre none. 



J. BOTRYCHIUM VlRGINICUM, SlVdrtZ. 



Rattlesnake Fern. 



Somewhat hairy ; stipe or scape bearing the frond about the middle ; frond 3-parted, thin, 

 the divisions bipinnatifid ; segments oblong, incisely toothed ; spike bipinnate. — Swartz, I. c; 

 " Schk. Fil. t. 156" ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 656 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 387 ; Torr. compend. p. 387; 

 Beck, hot. p. 459 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 587. B, gracile, Pursh, I. c. Osmunda Virginica, 

 Linn. sp. 2. p. 1064. Botrypus Virginicus, Michx. fl. 2. p. 274. 



Plant more or less hairy, sometimes nearly smooth, 10 - 15 (or sometimes even 18) inches 

 high. Frond from above the middle of the stipe ; the divisions broadly deltoid in the outline, 

 deeply bipinnatifid ; the lateral ones rather smaller : segments acutely 2 - 6-toothed. Spike 

 oblong, loose, of a tawny brown color ; the pinnules bearing the sessile capsules on the teeth 

 of the margin. 



Fertile woods : frequent. Fr. May - July. Pursh's B. gracile is certainly nothing more 

 than a smooth form of this species. Sometimes (in very large specimens) the stipe or peduncle 

 is forked, with a spike on each division. 



2. Botrychium lunarioides, Swartz. Tall Smooth Moonwort. 



Scape bearing the petioled frond near the base ; frond 3-parted, the divisions bipinnatifid ; 

 segments ovate, crenulate or lunate ; spike bipinnate. — Swartz, Fil. p. 172. B. fumarioides, 

 Willd. sp. 5. p. 63 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 655 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 386 ; Torr. compend. p. 

 387 ; Beck, hot. p. 459 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 587. B. obliquum, Willd. I. c. B. fuma- 

 rioides, var. obliquum, Torr. I. c. Botrypus lunarioides, Michx. fl. 2. p. 274. 



var. dissectum : divisions of the frond deeply tripinnately dissected ; the segments narrow, 

 2 - 3-toothed or bifid. — Oakes, cat. pi. Vermont. B. dissectum, Muhl. in Willd. sp. I. c; 

 Pursh, I. c. ; Beck, I. c. ; Darlingt. I. c. 



Root a fascicle of thick fleshy fibres. Scape smooth or slightly hairy, 6-15 inches long, 

 bearing near its base the stalk of the frond, which is from 1-6 inches long. Frond broadly 

 triangular in the outline, smooth or with a few scattered hairs, rather thick and fleshy ; the 

 divisions petioled : pinnae cordate and oblique at the base, cut into rather obtuse crenulate 

 lobes or segments. In the var., the pinna? are deeply and finely dissected into short linear 

 toothed segments. Spike bipinnate ; the capsules inserted on the margin of the pinnules, 

 which are very narrow and without teeth. 



