The Heart's Tongue Fern 



when we think of the texture of the fronds of these 

 two ferns. 



Leaving our woodland with a backward glance of 

 regret, we catch a glimpse of that fern, the Common 

 Hart's Tongue, which we have known all our days, it 

 being a prime favourite with the housewife, who values 

 it because of the evergreen nature of the fronds and its 

 hardy constitution. But, however much we may have 

 admired it in a flower-pot, we have to admit that it 

 appears more beautiful amid its natural surroundings, 

 with its drooping fronds hanging gracefully over the 

 bank which borders the wood. 



The rootstock of this fern is thick and short, and 

 the fronds, when mature, are dark green in colour and 

 rather leathery. These entire fronds, with wavy margins 

 and heart-shaped bases, are strap-shaped in outline and 

 taper away to a point. An entire, that is, uncut frond 

 is a very unusual feature in British ferns. The midrib 

 is very prominent, and from it spring at right angles 

 nerves or veins which can be easily made out with the 

 naked eye. The sori which are most plentiful towards 

 the tapering end of the frond appear in lines parallel to 

 the veins, but they are really double sori. A pair of 

 sori are joined edgeways and covered with linear indusia, 

 which seem at a certain stage of growth as a single 

 indusium, but, if carefully examined, they are found to 

 be two and not one. These twin sori, as they are 

 called, with their twin indusia which open opposite 

 each other, are the distinguishing marks of the genus 



