=Ranunculaceæ.= Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains OPHIOGLOSSACEÆ _Adder’s-Tongue Family_ More or less succulent fern-like plants, consisting of a stem and leaf growing from a fleshy root. Sporophyll in the form of a spike or panicle. [Sidenote: =Botrychium lunaria= (L.) Sw. _Moon-wort._] Very fleshy, 2—12 inches high. Leaf usually sessile, borne at or above the middle of the stem, pinnate with 2—8 pairs of moon-like or fan-shaped lobes which vary from crenate to entire and either close and folded together or distant; spore-bearing portion 2—3 pinnate, often dense, 1—2 inches long, about as high as the leaf. In open or exposed situations, frequently on the tops of the highest mountains, rather rare; occurring in midsummer. [Sidenote: =Botrychium simplex= E. Hitchcock. _Small Moon-wort._] Plant 2—6 inches high, slender and very variable. Leaf ovate, obovate or oblong, entire, lobed or pinnately parted, borne near the base of the stem; spore-bearing portion a simple or slightly compound spike, sometimes reduced to only a few sporanges; apex of the leaf and spore-bearing portion erect in fruit. In alpine meadows or grassy slopes, frequently through the Rockies but very inconspicuous; during summer. [Sidenote: =Botrychium virginianum= (L.) Sw. _Virginia Grape Fern._] Stem slender, 4 inches to 2 feet high. Leaf thin, ternately divided and spreading 3—12 inches across, pinnately much divided into oblong-toothed segments; spore-bearing portion long-stalked, much above the leaf 2—3 pinnate, cinnamon brown, when ripe. In rich moist woods, sparingly throughout the region during the summer. POLYPODIACEÆ _Fern Family_ Ferns of various habits, the rootstocks horizontal, often elongated or short and erect; the leaves simple, pinnate, pinnatifid or decompound, coiled at the ends when young. Sporanges borne in clusters (_sori_) on the lower side or margins of the leaves or their segments, with or without a membranous covering (_indusium_). Represented in the region by the following 10 genera. Sori without indusia, leaves 2—3 pinnate or ternate. =Phegopteris.= Sori with marginal indusia formed by the more or less altered edge of the leaf. Sporanges at the ends of the veins, borne on a reflexed portion of the leaf. =Adiantum.= Sporanges on a continuous vein-like receptacle which connects the apices of the veins. =Pteridium.=