As far as the United Kingdom is concerned the Little Adder’s Tongue has only been discovered in one or two localities. Some years ago it was stated to have been found in Cornwall, and it certainly used to occur in Guernsey.
Botrychium lunaria. The generic name in this case comes from a Greek word which means “a cluster,” this being a reference to the packed sori of the fertile pinnæ. The specific name comes from the Latin luna, “the moon,”—an allusion to the curiously-shaped pinnæ on the barren part of the frond. The Moonwort.
Botrychium lunaria. The Moonwort.
This is an interesting species which is easily distinguished from the Adder’s Tongue. The plant has a fleshy root-stock from which arises a frond divided into two parts, a leafy portion and a fertile branch. The whole frond is about six or eight inches in height, and the stipes is usually more than half the entire measurement. The leafy branch is pinnate, and its divisions are curious crescent-shaped processes which may be toothed round the edges. These are usually rather crowded together on the stem. The fertile portion of the frond is very upright, and bears about the same number of branches to be counted on the leafy portion. These branches are again divided into sections which bear the clusters of spore cases. These are of a reddish-brown colour and burst open when the contents are mature, in the same manner as that to be seen in the Adder’s Tongue. In the Moonwort, as in the previous species, it is possible to find the next year’s frond concealed at the apex of the root-stock.
The Moonwort grows in drier situations than that which suits the Adder’s Tongue. It is abundant in many parts of England, and is a very common plant in localities in Yorkshire. The species also occurs in other parts of the United Kingdom, though on account of its habit of growing mixed up with grass, the Moonwort is often overlooked.
The following is the only indigenous species related to the Gold and Silver Ferns of our greenhouses:—
Gymnogramma leptophylla. The generic name is derived from two Greek words—gymnos, “naked,” and gramme, “a line”; an allusion to the unprotected sporangia. The specific name means “slender leaf.” The Annual Maidenhair.
This is a pretty little species with barren and fertile fronds of a bright green colour. In some respects the fronds resemble those of the true Maidenhair. The Annual Maidenhair only occurs in Jersey, as far as the United Kingdom is concerned.