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observed in the nature and history of the prothallus, which is
green and above ground in true Ferns, and destitute of chlorophyll
and subterranean in Ophioglossaceoe. While, therefore,
the latter constitute a distinct natural order, they are still so
like true Ferns in many respects, that they must still be called
Ferns ; and that general name must be understood as covering
three natural orders, Filices, Marattiacece and Ophioglossacece.
The spores of O. vzilgahim are smooth, pale-yellow, subglobose
and trivittate.
Plate L X X X I .— Fig. 1-4. Ophioglossum vulgatum, from near
Boston. Fig. 2 is a part of a fertile spike. Fig. 3 is the upper part
of a sterile segment, where the larger areoles are less distinct than in
the lower half. Fig. 4 is a spore.
the history o f their development. . . . Each sporangium is, in Botrychium, an entire lobe
o f a leaf, the'inner tissue o f which produces the mother-cells o f the spores. A longitudinal
section through the unripe so-called spike o f O. vulgatum shows that the outer
layer o f the wail o f the sporangium is a continuous prolongation o f the epidermis provided
with stomata and covering the whole o f the fertile branch o f the leaf. . . . The spherical
cavities which contain the masses o f spores are imbedded in the tissue o f the organ, and
are therefore entirely surrounded by. its parenchyma.
P l a t e LXXXI.— F ig . 5 - 7 .
O PHIOGLOSSUM C RO TA LO PH O RO ID E S , W a l t e r .
Bulbous Adder’s-tongue.
O p h io g l o s s u m c r o t a l o p h o r o id e s : — Root-stock sub-globose.
tuberous, fronds usually several from one root-stock,
two to SIX inches high; sterile segment set below the middle
of the plant, six to eighteen lines long, somewhat fleshy,
broadly ovate or cordate, abruptly contracted at the base into
a short petiole; midvein none, areoles not enclosed in larger
ones; fertile spike three to six lines long, rather thick, apicu-
late, its peduncle usually twice to four times longer than the
common stalk.
Ophioglossum crotalophoroides. W a l t e r , Flora Caroliniana, p. 256.—
K u n z e , in Linnaia, ix.. p. 1 3 ; i„ Sill. Journ., July, 1848, p. 82.
Ophioglossum bulbosum, M ic h a u x , Fl. Bor.-Am., if , p. 2 7 6 .— S w a r t z ,
Syn. Fit. p. 169.—W il ld en ow , Sp. PL v., p. 60.— P u r sh , Fl.
Am. Sept., if , p. 655— B a r to n , Fl. North Amer., t. 56, fig . 2.—
P r e s l , Suppl., p . 5 1 .—S t u rm , Enum. PI. Vase. Crypt. Chilen-
sium, p. 4 6 . -H 0 0 K E R & B a k e r , Syn. F if . p . 4 4 5 .-G A R B E R , in
Botan. Gazette, iii., p. 85.
Ophioglossum Utberosum, H o o k e r & A k n o w , Bot. Beechey Voy., p. 5 3
Ophioglossum opacum, C a rm ic h a e l,— H o o k e r & G r e v i l l e , I c. F if , t. 4 0 .—
P r e s l , Suppl., p, 5 1 .