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Abh. Bohm. Gesellsch.Dotrychium anikemoidcs, P r e s l , Wissensch.,
V. ( 1 8 4 8 ) , p . 3 2 3 . ”
Osmuruia Virginiana, L in n æ u s , Sp. Pl., p. 15 19.
Osmunda fronde pinnatifida caulina, fructificationibus spicaéis, G ronov
iu s , FI. Virg., p . 19Ó.
The following varieties are described in Milde’s “ Botrychiorum
Monographia : ” —
Var. gracile. — "Smaller and more delicate; ultimate divisions narrow,
sub-lineal, sharply toothed; panicle with few capsules.” — Botrychium
gracile, P u r s h , FI. Am. Sept., ii., p. 656.
Var. Mexicanum, H o o k e r , " B o t . Misc., hi., p. 2 2 3 . ” — "Delicate,
primary segments more acuminate ; secondary ones pinnately parted,
oblong, acute, ultimate divisions deeply incised-toothed ; the teeth seldom
more than six, acute ; panicle usually much shorter than the sterile
segment.” — Botrychium brackystachys, K u n z e , in Linnæa, xviii,, p. 3 0 5 .
Var. cicutarium. — Tall, sterile segment, three or four times pinnately
parted ; fruiting-stalk rising far below the base of the sterile segment,
and the latter, therefore, long-stalked ; panicle mostly shorter than
the sterile segment.— Botrychium cicutarium, S w a r t z , Syn. Fil., p. 1 7 2 .
— W il ld en ow , Sp. PL, v., p. 6 5 .— Osmunda cicutaria, L a m a r c k , "E n c .
B o t, iv., p. 6 5 0 .” — Osmunda asphodeli radice, P l u m ie r , Fil. Am , p. 1 3 6 ,
t 15 9 .
H ad. — In rich woods ; from New Brunswick and Canada to
Washington Territory and Oregon, and southward to Colorado, Texas,
Alabama, and Florida; also in Mexico, Hayti, New Granada, Venezuela,
Ecuador, and Brazil, Northern Europe, Siberia, and Japan.
D e s c r i p t i o n . — The Virginian grape-fern, or rattlesnake-
fern as it is as commonly called, is usually our largest species
ll
of this interesting but troublesome genus. It differs from all
the other species in several more or less important characters;
so that Dr. Milde, in his last classification of the genus, placed
it in a separate sub-genus, to which he gave the name of Os-
mundopteris} The root-stock is very short, but the roots
long and fleshy. The base of the stalk is slightly swollen,
and is provided with a longitudinal fissure, within which the
bud may be easily seen. The bud itself is decidedly hairy,
and, as Mr. Davenport has shown, has the “ fertile frond recurved
its whole length, with the longer sterile frond reclined
upon it.” It will be remembered that in the other Botrychia
the stalk-base completely encloses the bud.
The common stalk in a large plant is often twelve or
fourteen inches long, and the stalk of the panicle as much
more; so that the sterile segment, or lamina as Dr. Milde calls
it, is placed very near the middle of the whole. 1 he sterile
lamina is broadly triangular; so broad, that the width is usually
greater than the length. One fine specimen from New Brunswick
has the sterile part a foot broad, and eight inches long;
and equally large plants are by no means rare. In North
America the sterile part is closely sessile ; but in the West-
Indian form, as represented in Plumicr's figure, it has a petiole
over two inches long. The lower primary divisions are
' “ § 11. OSMUXDOPTERIS.— B asis infima pctioli gemmam includcns rima
longa verticali a p e r ta ; segmenti infimi primarii segmenta secimtlaria anadroma in
superiore laminae parte autcra et tcrtiaria omnia catadroma. Gemina pilosa. Cel-
lulae epidermidis flexuosae ; stornata in pagina lamina: sterilis superiore nulla.” —
Botr. Monogr., p. 96-
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