A 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE LITTLE ADDERS-TONGUE. 



Ophioglossum lusitanicum. 

 TINY little fern, sufficiently near in its 



semblance to the Adders-tongue major to 

 claim close relationship. A British fern it is, 

 but hardly an inhabitant of England, although 

 it has been stated that specimens have been 

 found in Cornwall. But in Guernsey it has 

 its habitats, having been found near some 

 rocks in that charming little nook, Petit Bot 

 Bay. Like the Adders-tongue major, Ophio- 

 glosstim lusitanictim has one barren frond 

 sometimes two and an erect spike of fructifi- 

 cation. But the barren frond, instead of 

 being pear-shaped, is lance-shaped, simple, 

 unscalloped, much smaller, and much nar- 

 rower than in Vulgatum. Like the latter, it 



