Frond two to nine inches high, both sterile and fertile segments at the
top of the common stalk. Sterile segment triangular, twice pinnatifid, the
acute lobes lanceolate, incised or toothed, scarcely fleshy, resembling
a very small specimen of the rattlesnake fern. Fertile segment slightly
overtopping the sterile, two to three pinnate and spreading.
One of the constant companions of the rattlesnake fern. New England to Lake
Superior. July.
[Illustration: Little Grape Fern _Botrychium simplex_]
[Illustration: Lance-leaved Grape Fern _Botrychium lanceolatum Botrychium
angustisegmentum_]
(4) MATRICARY FERN
_Botrychium ramòsum. Botrychium matricariæfòlium_
Fronds small, one to twelve inches high. Sterile segment above the middle,
usually much divided. Fertile segment twice or thrice pinnate. Apex of both
segments turned down in the bud, the sterile overtopping and clasping the
fertile one.
[Illustration: The Matricary Fern _Botrychium ramòsum_]
The matricary fern differs from the preceding in ripening its spores about
a month earlier, in having its sterile frond stalked, besides being a
taller and fleshier plant. It may also be noted that in the lance-leaved
species the midveins of the larger lobes are continuous, running to the
tip; whereas in the matricary fern the midveins fork repeatedly and are
soon indistinguishable from the veinlets. The two are apt to grow near each
other, with the rattlesnake fern as a near neighbor. June.
NOTE. In 1897 A.A. Eaton discovered certain _Botrychia_ in a sphagnum
swamp in New Hampshire, to which he gave the specific name of _Botrychium
tenebròsum_. The plants were very small, not averaging above two or three
inches high, with the sterile blade sessile or slightly stalked. Many
botanists prefer to place this fern as a variety of the matricary, but
others regard it as a form of _Botrychium símplex_. Borders of maple
swamps, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.
(5) COMMON GRAPE FERN
_Botrychium oblìquum_. _Botrychium ternàtum_, var.
_oblìquum_