Botrychium dissectum (Cut-leaved grape fern)

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Botrychium dissectum Spreng.

Cut-leaved grape fern, cutleaf grape fern

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Pteridophyta	Ferns
Class	Filicopsida	“Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns
Order	Ophioglossales	“Snake-tongue plants,” a small group of pteridophyte plants, vascular plants that reproduce with spores
Family	Ophioglossaceae	The adder’s-tongue family, a family of ferns
Genus	Botrychium	From the Greek botrys, “a bunch of grapes,” alluding to the bunchlike appearance of the spore-bearing organs of these ferns
Species	dissectum	Dissected, as in leaves

About plant names...

Botrychium dissectum translates roughly as "a small cluster of grapes with finely cut leaves"— a perfect description. It is a North American native plant.

Identification: These ferns are 6-18″ (15-45 cm) high. Leaves are finely divided and feathery, only at the base of the plant. The spore clusters, 3-6″ (7.6-15 cm) tall, are thrust up above the foliage on an infertile leaf. They consist of many round spore cases, each about 1/16″ (1.6 mm) around. They appear bronze-colored during the winter.

Medical:

References:

Cobb, Boughton, Farnsworth, Elizabeth & Lowe, Cheryl, Peterson Field Guides: Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, p. 266

Online References:

Missouriplants.com

Ferns of Mississippi

The Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Cofrin Center for Biodiversity

Ontario Ferns

Illinois Wildflowers

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network