142 FILICES 
has been for some time known as viviparous, but from recent observations it 
would seem that the same peculiarity is observable in several of the British 
Ferns. 
12. Harp Fern (biléchnum). 
Northern Hard Fern (J. boredle).—Barren fronds pinnatifid, pinnate 
towards base, with broad blunt segments ; fertile fronds pinnate, with narrow 
acute segments. Our only native species of this fern grows in handsome 
clumps, attracting the notice of the lover of plants by the marked difference 
between the barren and fertile fronds which spring from the same roots. It 
is by no means a rare fern; and many a rambler, intent on forming a wild 
nosegay, gathers its bright evergreen leaves to mingle with his bunch of 
ling, or heath flowers, or “bonnie broom.” Cowper had, perhaps, admired 
this among the ferns which grew on such spots as he describes in his 
rambles :— 
‘The common overgrown with fern, and rough 
With prickly gorse, that shapeless and deformed, 
And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom, 
And decks itself with ornaments of gold.” 
But though this beautiful fern luxuriates especially on moist boggy lands, 
it is not confined to such localities; it grows also in woods and on banks, 
particularly such as are rendered moist by streams or pools, and where the 
soil is of sand or gravel. It ascends the mountain to an elevation of 4,000 
feet. Though occurring in most counties of the kingdom, yet it is some- 
what local in its haunts, and not always to be found where we should soonest 
have looked for it. It is a fern readily distinguished, the barren fronds 
spreading more around the spot whence they arise, sometimes being quite 
prostrate on the ground, and having the pinne much closer together than in 
the taller erect fertile fronds, which are cut into so many slender divisions 
as to resemble the teeth of a comb; the barren ones having their upper 
segments only cut nearly to the mid-rib, while the fertile ones are distinctly 
pinnate. The former are about half, or rather more than half, the height 
of the fertile fronds, and have short scaly stalks. The fertile fronds, which 
are about a foot or a foot and a half high, have a dark brown stalk nearly 
half their length, with long pointed scales upon its surface, and are at once 
distinguished by their upright growth. 
Both kinds of fronds are bright green, and their veining is similar, except 
that in the fertile frond a long vein runs down each side of the mid-rib, and 
on this are placed the lines of fructification. Forked veins run almost to the 
margin on each side of the mid-vein, and are club-shaped at the extremity. 
When young the clusters of capsules are distinct, but they afterwards crowd 
into one linear mass. At an early stage they are covered by an indusium, 
which soon bursts open at the side nearest the mid-vein. Though growing 
on open heaths, the plant always seems finest when found under the shadow 
of bushes. Some authors are of opinion that this plant is not a bléchnum 
at all, and have removed it to the genus Lomaria, with the specific name of 
spicant. 
The clumps of Bléchnum are so handsome, among the wild flowers and 
grasses of summer, that we should be sorry to miss them, though they 
