72 COMMON POLYPODY. 



COMMON POLYPODY. 



POLTPODIUM VULGARE. 



[Linnceus, Bentham, and Moore.] 



(Fig. 41.) 



SYNONYM. 



CTENOPTERIS VULGABIS. Newman. 



THIS is one of the commonest and best known of 

 our British ferns. It has thick woody creeping roots. 

 The fronds are about six inches to a foot in height : 

 they are always pendent in maturity, broadly oblong, 

 lanceolate in their general outline. The fructification 

 is very conspicuous, and usually at the upper part of 

 the frond, in large circular patches of a golden colour. 

 It is somewhat parasitic in its habit, growing on old 

 trees and on walls and moist rocks. 



It is a very generally common fern throughout 

 Great Britain and Ireland, and in Europe, Russian 

 Asia, and North America. Just as the Common 

 Brakes seem to shun the habitation of man, so does 

 the Polypody seem to flourish most in his vicinity, 

 establishing itself on church towers, cottage roofs, and 

 old walls. It especially delights in decaying trees, 



