82 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY 



feet of the centipede and the lines of fructification of 

 the Fern. Its English name comes from the likeness 

 of the whole frond to the shape of a Hart's tongue, 

 differing altogether from the generality of its feathery 

 fellows, in being only one long shining bright green 

 leaf, partially erect when dwarf, but drooping in its 

 larger development, growing in groups or tufts, on 

 rocks, damp masonry, and moist banks, from four 

 inches to upwards of two feet long, hanging down in- 

 deed like great tongues lolling over the grey walls or 

 grassy banks. 



The dwarf fronds are thick and of a leathery texture, 

 the larger thinner and less rigid ; their outline is what 

 is called strap-shaped, that is nai'row oblong lanceolate 

 much elongated ; they taper toward a point at the 

 apex, and become narrower downwards, cordate 

 (rounded like the thick end of the heart in cards) at 

 the base ; the margin is entire, or very slightly wavy ; 

 and the stipes is shaggy and about half the length of 

 the leaf. The venation consists of a strong midvein or 

 midrib, extending the whole length of the frond, from 

 which run forked veins, their branches parallel and 

 proceeding direct toward the margin, terminating just 

 within it in a club-shaped apex. The veins are usually 

 forked twice, but are not constant to any exact num- 

 ber of divisions. The sori, which are oblong patches 

 of unequal length, lying in the direction of the veins 

 at short intervals along the upper two-thirds of the 

 frond, are composed each of two lines of fructification 

 united at their sides, each of these lines, however, 

 consisting of a complete sorus, so that the two united 



