MOONWORT

MOONWORT (Botrychium lunaria), an interesting fern, native of Britain, and widely distributed over northern Europe, penetrating to within the Arctic regions and Asia, and along with the few other species of which the family is composed appearing also in North America. The plant is of simple structure, consisting of a root-stock bearing a single erect stem from 3 to 6 inches high. A single pinnate leaf springs from the stem about midway from root to apex, the segments being half-moon shaped, pale green, and of thick consistence. The fructification is developed on a branched spike, pyramidal in outline, from 1 to 2 inches long, the branches all turning to one side. B. virginicum, the largest growing species, is named the Rattlesnake Fern, from the circumstance that it generally abounds in places frequented by that reptile.