Ferns of the Moors and Mountains 



Scolopendrium, to which the Hart's Tongue Fern, the 

 only British representative of the genus, belongs. 



A very considerable number of varieties of this fern 

 have been cultivated, some having a very remarkable 

 appearance. Even in the wild state, this fern has a 

 tendency to produce abnormal fronds, with the tips 

 forked or branched. It is named Scolopendrium vulgare. 

 The generic name is formed from scolopendra, a " centi- 

 pede," from a fancied resemblance of the linear sori to 

 the feet of the centipede. Vulgare is, we already know, 

 Latin for "common." 



CHAPTER VI 



FERNS OF THE MOORS AND MOUNTAINS 



ON our last visit to the homes and haunts of ferns, we 

 direct our footsteps to the uplands. Along the stony 

 byways, over the solitary moors, and up the precipitous 

 slopes of the mountains, we wander with eyes keen to 

 detect those ferns which delight in such situations. 



The first to thrust itself upon our attention is the 

 Bracken, or Common Brake, the commonest of all 

 British ferns. This fern seems to have adapted itself 

 to present-day conditions more readily than any other 

 of our native ferns, covering large areas with its tall, 

 branching fronds, and ever extending its dominions, 

 invading the pasture-land, and even colonising the 

 barren stretches of sand along our coasts. Probably, 

 52 



