156 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



a centipede and the lines of fructification produced on the 

 fronds of the Fern. 



Scolopendrium vulgare, Symons. 

 The Common Hartstongue. (Plate XV. fig. 1.) 



This is a common plant ; nevertheless its shining bright 

 green, though simple fronds, contrasting so beautifully 

 with the feathery aspect much more common among the 

 Ferns, secures for it admirers, whether seen in a wild or 

 cultivated state. It grows in tufts. 



The fronds, which are evergreen, vary in length from 

 six inches to a foot and a half, and even more, and arc 

 either stiff and erectish when growing under circumstances 

 which render them dwarf, or more or less spreading and 

 drooping when in situations which are favourable to 

 enlarged development : in the former case the fronds are 

 thicker and more leathery in texture ; in the latter, thinner 

 and less rigid, from being produced in very damp shady 

 situations. The usual form of the fronds is what is called 

 strap-shaped, that is, narrow oblong-lanceolate, much 

 elongated ; they taper towards, and are acute at, the apex, 

 narrowing a little downwards, and becoming cordate at 

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



