64 
FERNS. 
[. Botrychium . 
Des. — Root a thick, short, scaly, and fibrous tuber. Rachis 
smooth, rigid, upright. Fronds several, 3 to 6 feet high, bright 
green, twice pinnate. Pinnae distant, nearly opposite. Pinnules 
almost sessile, oblong, blunt, with waved or slightly crenate edges, 
frequently auricled. Those pinnae on the top of the frond are either 
wholly or partially changed into fructification, when they appear 
like a compound spike, each bunch of which seems composed of a 
number of circular bundles of capsules. The thecae are petioled and 
beautifully reticulated. Spores nearly globular. 
^ 4 he internal parts of the root, as well as the young fronds, were once 
used in pharmacy as a cure for bruises, and as conferring strength. 
^ IT - wet woods, swampy moors, &c. (See Introduction, page 11.) 
Hab. Scot. : Head of Loch Fine, to the N. E. of Inverary, Argyleshire, and 
near Loch Lomond (Dumbarton side), Mr. H. C. Watson. At the side of the 
loch at Inchnedamff, Sutherlandshire, Dr. Johnston. Aberdeenshire and coast of 
Kincardineshire, Dr. Murray . — Eng. : Warwickshire, Rev. W. Bree. Ellesmere 
Lakes and West Felton, Salop, Mr. W. Leighton. Plentiful at Speke, near 
Liverpool, Mr. T. B. Hall. Chat Moss, Mr. W. Christy. Woolston Moss and 
other places near Warrington, Lancashire, Mr. W. Wilson. Isle of Man, Mr. 
I'orbes. Pottery Car, near Doncaster, Mr. S. Appleby. Near Leeds, Mr. 
Denny. Bulwell, Notts (near the upper mill), Mr. T. II. Cooper. Norfolk, 
Miss Bell. Kavanah’s Wood, Great Warley Common ; also near the barracks, 
on Little Warley Common, Mr. R. Castle. Near Leith Hill, Surrey; and in 
several places from 5 to 8 miles S. W. of Dorking, Mr. W. Pamplin. On 
Bagshot Heath, Mr. J. Lloyd. In a wet shady spot, by the river side, between 
Frim ley village and Frimley Green, Surrey; also sparingly on Esher Common, 
by the entrance to the lane leading thence towards Epsom, Mr. II. C. Watson. 
Tunbridge, Mr. Trevelyan. Corner of the lake at Uckfield, Sussex, near 
Chudleigh, on the banks of the Teign ; also near Ivybridge on the Ernie ; and on 
the Goonhilly Downs, about St. Ives, Jones's Tour. Isle of Wight, Rev. G. E. 
Smith . — Ire. : Mucruss Abbey, Mr. Kelly. Castlebar, Mayo, Dr. Osborne. 
Kelly’s Glen, co. Dublin, &c., Mr. Mackay. 
Geo. — E urope, chiefly the northern parts, and all the United States. 
BOTRYCHIUM, Linn. MOONWORT. 
(From jSorpvQ, a bunch ; as its fruit is borne in clusters.) 
D 
A 
£> 
A, fert ile branched spike of fruit of Botrychium lunaria. B, part of ditto 
enlarged. C, ditto with the thecae opened. D, spores. E, transverse section 
of the stem. 
The fruit in this somewhat extensive genus is produced upon a compound spike 
distinct from the leafy expansion, though attached to it at the stem. The theca ? 
are opaque and sessile. There is only one British species. (Sec Introduction.) 
