i8 5 
BOTRYCHIUM. 
HIS genus, like the preceding, is constituted of species having fronds of two 
branches, one being fertile and the other barren ; and it is at once distinguished 
from Ophioglossum by having both the fertile and barren branches again divided, 
while in Ophioglossum they are simple. Another difference may be noted in 
the way in which new fronds are produced. In Botrycliium the frond for the 
ensuing year may be found enclosed in the base of the stem of the existing 
frond, and within that the frond for the year next following, and so on ; but 
in Ophioglossum the new frond is produced outside the stem, not within it as 
in the Moonwort. 
There are about a dozen species of Botrycliium — more or less, according 
to the estimate taken of what constitutes a species. These are found through- 
out the world, with the exception of Africa, in which the genus is unrepresented, extending from 
the tropical to the arctic regions, and most abundant in the temperate regions of the northern 
hemisphere. They are involved in some confusion, and not always very easily distinguishable. 
Those desirous of pursuing the subject critically will find a careful analysis of the species in 
Milde’s “ Filices Europeae.” 
THE MOONWORT : BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA, L. 
This is the best-known and only British species of the genus. It is a short stout plant, 
with a frond from an inch to four inches in height, and divided, as we have already remarked, 
'nto two parts. The smooth dark-green leafy or barren portion of the frond is pinnate, the 
pinnae, which vary in number from three to eight or nine pairs, are fan-shaped and semi-circular 
or crescent-shaped in outline ; this form probably suggested some connection between this 
plant and the moon, whence the Latin name Lunaria , and the English “ Moonwort.” The fertile 
part of the frond is bipinnate, somewhat triangular in outline, the pinnae or branches bearing 
a number of smooth, nearly spherical spore-cases, which open transversely when ripe, and allow 
the smooth pale spores to fall out. Mr. Newman suggests that it is a parasitic plant, but other 
writers do not concur in this belief. The Moonwort, although recorded for nearly all the 
English and most of the Scottish counties, is by no means a common plant, although probably 
more common than is generally supposed. It grows in dry open pastures and upon heaths, 
and is very liable to be overlooked, as it is not readily distinguishable from the grass 
among which it grows. In Ireland it is recorded from most if not all of the counties, often 
occurring in dry limestone pastures. The fronds appear above ground in April, attaining 
their full development in May or June. It is generally distributed over Europe and Northern 
Asia, but is absent from the American and Atlantic floras. In Europe it extends to arctic 
Russia, Livonia, Lithuania, and the Caucasus ; it also occurs in Spain, Italy, and the Mediter- 
lanean islands. In Asia it occurs in Kamtschatka, Persia, and Lazistan ; it is also recorded 
from Australia and Tasmania ; while in the New World it is found in Newfoundland and in 
the northern United States. 
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