MOONWOBTS. 



37 



occasionally rises from the rhizome or root-stock, of a 

 similar form, narrowed downwards into a sort of pe- 

 duncle or stalk. 



This curious little Adder's Tongue has been found in 

 Gruernsey, and is in perfection during the month of Eeb- 

 ruary. Mr. Sowerby received a specimen which was said 

 to have been collected in Cornwall, but the precise locality 

 was not indicated. It is not at all improbable that it may 

 be found in the southern counties of England, as its small 

 form and early fructification may have hitherto eluded 

 discovery. 



THE MOONWOBTS. 



Spore-cases arranged on a compound or branched spike. 



As we have but one British species of Moonwort, there 

 is but little occasion to refer separately to the characters 

 which are considered generic and those which are onfe^ of 

 specific value. The name of the genus, Botrychium^ is de- 

 rived from the Greek word for a*' little bunch of grapes," 

 in allusion to the manner in which the spore-cases are 

 arranged. As already observed, the Moonwort differs 

 from Adder's Tongues in the spike which bears the spore- 

 cases being branched, and from the Eoyal Fern in the 

 whole fertile spike bearing the spore-cases ; whereas in 

 the Osmund the lower portion of the frond, which bears 

 the spore-cases, still retains its leafy character, and re- 

 mains barren. There are other species of Moonwort in 

 other parts of the globe, although only one species in- 

 habits the British Islands; as, for instance, in North 

 America, the Sandwich Islands, Japan, India, Ceylon, and 

 New Zealand. 



MOONWOET.* 



The Moonwort is a little plant, easily distinguished, 

 when foundj by the fertile upper portion forming a com- 



Botrychium hmaria, Sw. 



