106 
NATURE STUDY. 
IFerns and Fern Allies. III. 
BY FREDERICK W. BATCHELDER. 
As was stated in a former article, our local ferns, so far as at 
present known, belong to the three families, Ophioglossaceae, 
Osmundaceae and Polypodi iCeae. The order in which the names 
are given indicates also the order of natural development, the 
first family comprising the oldest and least specialized forms, the 
third the most recent and specialized forms, the second certain 
forms intermediate between the other two. The second family 
is represented in this part of the world only by the genus Osmun- 
da. In it the process of reproduction by means of spores is in¬ 
itiated in a way slightly differing from that which prevails in the 
third family, and the character of the tissues is also somewhat 
different, resembling that of the first family. In technical lan¬ 
guage, then, the osmundas may be said to constitute a link be¬ 
tween the “ eu sporangiate ” and the “ lepto-sporangiate ” ferns. 
In plain English this means that they are intermediate between 
the ancient, less specialized and the modern, more specialized 
types. The recent discovery of this connecting link has put the 
Ophioglossaceae back with the t ue ferns, from which they had 
been for some time separated. Dropping, for the most part, 
technical terms, I will now proceed to treat of this most inter¬ 
esting family. 
There are but three genera known: Ophioglossum, Helmintho- 
stachys and Botrychium. Of the first and third there are about 
ten species each, and both genera are represented in our flora. 
Tne second is a native of southern Asia and but one species is 
known at present In New England Ophioglossum is represented 
by the species O. vulgatum, the “ adder tongue fern Botrychium 
b) six or more species, all going by the name of “ grape fern,” 
trom the resemblance of the small clusters of sporangia to min¬ 
ute bunches ot grapes. In England the grape ferns are called 
“ moon worts”, in allusion to the " lunate ” moon shaped) seg¬ 
ments of the leaves in the species common there. As but one 
