86 J. E. LITTLEBOr — OUE LOCAL FEEXS. 



dark green fronds ; they are more or less ri,2:id, and are not nearly 

 so largo and handsome as are those of P. angulnre. Its pinnae 

 are packed much closer together, and it possesses a bright burnished 

 appearance peculiarly its own. 



There is said to be an intermediate species, sometimes described 

 as P. lohatum. Mr. Newman considers that it does not differ 

 suflSciently from the two last mentioned to claim distinctive notice, 

 and as far as I have been able to judge I concur in his opinion. 

 I have frequently planted specimens apparently perfectly distinct, 

 but in the course of a few years tlicy have varied so considerably 

 under cultivation as to be hardly distinguishable from each other. 



13. Scolopendrium vulgare. — No fern is more universally known 

 or more readily distinguished than the hart's-tongue. Its long 

 ribbon-like fronds, so strikingly different from those of every other 

 species, are eagerly sought after by all who attempt the formation 

 of garden ferneries. It is very generally distributed over this side 

 of Hertfordshire. It grows, for the most part, on damp banks, by 

 the side of streams and deep ditches ; not unfrequently around the 

 upper portion of wells or pits, and on the underside of arches or 

 culverts through which water passes. It is extremely ornamental, 

 and when found in profusion, especially on old walls or ruins, 

 cannot fail to excite general admiration. 



14. Polypodium vulgare. — This, like the preceding, is a perfectly 

 distinct species. It abounds in every lane and copse throughout 

 our district. Mr. Newman remarks — "Just as the common brake 

 seems to shun man and to seek the forests and the wilds and 

 heaths, where his implements of husbandry offer it no disturbance ; 

 so does the polypody appear to affect the companionship of man, to 

 shun the waste, and to claim the shelter of the hedgerow ; it for- 

 sakes the common and establishes itself on the church-tower or the 

 church-yard wall."* I have seen the thatched roofs of cottages 

 completely covered with it, its roots creeping along the surface in 

 entangled horizontal masses. It is emphatically a parasite, and 

 appears to flourish just in proportion as decay progresses. Its 

 bright gi-ecn fronds, on the back of which a beautiful golden fructi- 

 fication is very conspicuous, crown with a profusion of beauty a 

 large proportion of the decaying stumps and old timbers so common 

 in our country lanes. 



15. Bleehnum Spicant. — The only habitat for tliis fern with 

 which I am acquaint(>d, througliout this district, is tlie deserted 

 lane near Wigginton Common, to M'hich I have already several 

 times alluded. Formerly it was to be found here in considerable 

 abundance, but when last I visited the locality the operations of 

 of the spade were very apparent, and many clumps had evidently 

 been carried away. It generally abounds on heatlis and along the 

 sides of damp woods. Its fertile and barren fronds are entirely 

 distinct, and display a pleasing contrast : the fertile fronds always 

 rise from the centre of the plant, and the barren ones form a riih 



* British Ferns (1854), p. 43. 



