10 . 
THE MOONWORT. 
Botrychium lunaria. 
Plate 5, Fig. 7, Page 2 - 25 . 
The Moon wort, in general appearance, hardly realizes the 
idea of a Fern, although it is, in reality, one. It is mostly 
found on heaths, moors, or open pasture-lands, generally 
growing on land which is slightly elevated, and not caring 
for abundant moisture, although loving the dampness 
afforded by the roots of grass, and the shelter of grassy and 
other dwarf growths of vegetation. It has, indeed, been 
asserted — and, apparently on good grounds — that this little 
plant is a sort of grass parasite, feeding, in some way, on 
grassy roots. In any case it is a fact that it will not succeed 
in cultivation unless it be removed from its habitats with 
undisturbed roots embedded in a portion of the turf in which 
it was found growing. 
Description. — Unlike most Ferns, Botrychium htnuria 
does not throw up a number of fronds from the same root. 
It has but one, and that a kind of double frond, which con- 
sists of a barren leafy portion, and of a seed-bearing spike. 
Both start from a scaly sheath of a reddish brown colour, 
surmounting a small, fleshy and brittle root, with fleshy 
rootlets. In its rudimentary state this sheath encloses the 
frond bud, which, as it develops, grows upwards. A little 
way from the rootstock it divides into two stems, a barren 
