MOONWORT. 
347 
sent me specimens exhibiting the structure here described, and 
called my attention to many of the particulars 1 have noticed. 
The stem is very succulent, and rises in an erect position 
from the sheath-like scales already spoken of, thus totally dif- 
fering from that of the true ferns. It is divided at about half 
its length : one branch bearing the leafy portion of the frond, 
the other the fructification : the leafy portion is pinnate ; the 
pinnae vary in number from three to eight pairs ; they are some- 
what fan-shaped, with the exterior margin slightly crenate ; the 
veins in these pinnae are branched irregularly, and extend almost 
to the margin, but are never united at their extremities : the 
fruitful branch of the stem is pinnate, the pinnae generally 
somewhat corresponding in number with those of the leafy 
branch : these lateral branches, or pinnae, are frequently again 
divided, and bear a number of nearly globular capsules, which, 
having attained maturity, open transversely, and, gaping wide, 
allow the seeds to fall out. 
Very remarkable varieties of this plant are occasionally met 
with ; one of these, the Lunaria minor foliis dissectis of Kay,'^ 
has been treated by Swartzf and WilldenowJ as a distinct spe- 
cies, under the name of Botrychium rutaceum. Three varieties 
are mentioned by Smith ; of these, is the Lunaria minor ra- 
mosa of Ray,§ 7. is the Lunaria racemosa minor adianti folio 
of BreyniiiSjll and the Botrychium rutaceum already men- 
tioned. Concerning these varieties Smith remarks, iS. has a 
branched stalk, bearing several leaves and compound spikes, 
alternately disposed ; 7. is a very slight variety, with more 
jagged leaflets than ordinary ; S', has pinnatifid leaflets, and a 
more spreading habit. All these varieties, and perhaps others, 
are found occasionally intermixed here and there with the plant 
in its proper or common form ; but never, as far as I could 
learn, so numerously distinct as to have the appearance of a 
different species.”H 
I am indebted to Mr. Cruickshank for a drawing, faithfully 
copied on the following page, of a very singular form of the 
* Syn. 129. f Syn. Fil. 171. + Sp. Plant, v. 62. § Syn. 129. 
11 Breyn. Cent. t. 93. Eng. Flor. iv. 316. 
