BOTRYCHIUM 
205 
are not rolled up spirally, unrolling as they expand, but in 
the incipient state the parts are merely folded together 
by a flat surface. Only one species of BotrycMum is 
indigenous. 
The name is derived from the Greek hotrys^ signifying 
a cluster. 
Botrychium lunaria, Swartz, 
The Common Moonwort (Plate XVIII. fig. 2.) 
This is a very peculiar plant, exceedingly interesting to 
the student, from the differences of structure and develop- 
ment it exhibits as compared with the majority of Ferns. 
It is an almost stemless plant, furnished with a few coarse 
brittle fibres, and a bud springing from the permanent point 
which represents the stem. Within this bud, before the 
season at which the fronds are developed, they may be 
found in an embryo condition, perfectly formed, the two 
branches of the frond placed face to face, the fertile being 
clasped by the barren one. This new frond springs up 
annually, and perishes before winter, and in the ma- 
jority of cases is not very conspicuous. The size varies 
from three to eight or ten inches in height, the lower half 
consisting of a smooth, erect, cylindrical, hollow stipes, the 
