A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Athyrium filix-foemina, Roth Lastrea oreopteris, Presl 



Polystichum aculeatum, Roth Polypodium vulgare, L. 



lobatum, Sm. OPHIOGLOSSACE/E 



angulare, Presl Ophioglossum vulgatum, L. 

 Lastrea filix-mas, Presl 



spinulosa, Presl MARSILEACE/E 



dilatata, Presl Pilularia globulifera, L. 



The more marked varieties which have been found are Scohpendrium 

 vulgare, var. multifidum, in the Lea district ; Athyrium Jilix-fcemma, var. 

 convexum, in the Colne and Lea ; and Polypodium vulgare, vars. acutum 

 and serratum, in the Lea. 



The earliest county record is in Gerard's Herball (1597) : ' Nicholas 

 Belson founde [a dwarf form of Scolopendrium vu/gare] in a gravellie lane 

 in the way leading to Oxey parke neere unto Watforde, fifteene miles from 

 London.' In 1737 John Blackstone recorded Asplenium adiantum-nigrum 

 and Ophioglossum vulgatum as found near Harefield ; and in 1805 Thomas 

 Woodward recorded Ceteracb officinale as occurring at Ashridge. The 

 next additions, to the number of eleven, were made in 1838 by the 

 Rev. W. H. Coleman. 



THE HORSETAILS (Equisetacea) 



Of the only genus of this order, Equisetum, the following species 

 occur in Hertfordshire : E. arvense, L. ; E. maximum, Lamk. ; E. silvaticum, 

 L. ; E. palustre, L. ; and E. limosum, L. 



Equisetum arvense and limosum occur in all the districts, and E. 

 palustre has been recorded from all but the Brent. E. silvaticum is our 

 rarest horsetail. It is known to have occurred on Hitchin Common in 

 the Ivel district from a single record, and it is somewhat plentiful in two 

 woods in the Lea district Bayford Wood and Bell Wood. 



All the species were first recorded by Coleman in 1838. 



THE CLUBMOSSES (Lycopodiacea) 



Of the three genera of this order, Lycopodium, Selaginella, and Isoefes, 

 the first only is represented in Hertfordshire, and by only a single species, 

 Lycopodium clavatum, L., which has been found in the Colne district near 

 Tring and in the Lea in Broxbourne Wood, Pamplin being the first to 

 record it, in 1837. The rare L. inundatum occurs on Harefield Common, 

 just outside our county boundary. 



THE MOSSES (Musct) 



Although the mosses of the county have not been so carefully in- 

 vestigated as the flowering plants and ferns, they have not been neglected. 

 As early as the year 1843 the Revs. W. H. Coleman and R. H. Webb 

 printed in pamphlet form, A Report of the Progress made in the In- 

 vestigation of the Flora of Hertfordshire, with a Catalogue of Species 

 known or reported to have been found. In this catalogue 1 1 8 species 



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