198 



HARDY FERNS. 



times linear, and in other cases hollow or vaulted. They may 

 be known also by their long sword-like fronds. The generic 

 name is derived from scolopendra, a centipede : the long lines 

 of spore-masses are supposed to resemble the feet of that 

 insect. 



SCOLOPENDHIUM VULGABE (Common Hart's-tongue Fern), 

 Fig. 78. A British Fern of great beauty, common almost 



everywhere, clothing sloping 

 hedgebanks. It is also fre- 

 quently seen growing out of 

 the bricks in old wells, where 

 it flourishes very freely. On 

 the hedgebanks the fronds are 

 short, seldom exceeding 8 inches 

 in length. Fronds simple, shin- 

 ing, of a lively green, long, 

 strap-shaped, tapering to a 

 point, and heart-shaped at the 

 base. Margin smooth and en- 

 tire. Stalks scaly. Rootstock 

 creeping slightly. Increased 

 readily by division. 



S. VULGARE POLYSCHIDES 



(Many-cut). A variety known 

 generally by the name angusti- 

 folium (Narrow-leaved), found 

 near Bristol. Fronds simple, 

 though sometimes they will 

 come pinnatind. They are then 

 very curious, long and narrow, 

 cut into segments overlapping 

 each other. Spore-masses very narrow, and placed in the 

 hollows, and sometimes on the segments, only occupying 

 three-fourths of the under side of the frond. Not commonly 

 in cultivation. We have only seen it in one place in Glou- 



Fig. 78. Scolopendrium vulgare. 

 (Top of frond natural size.) 



