IL 



OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM. 

 Common Adder'' s-tongue. 



Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. — Order I. Filices. 



Nat. Ord. Filices, Ophioglosse^. 



Gen. Char. Capsules one-celled, two-valved, opening at 

 the side, connate so as to foiTn a compact two-ranked 

 spike. Seeds numerous, very minute. Involucre none. 



Spec. Char. Frond ovate, obtuse veinless ; Spike cauline. 



SYNONYMES. 



( Ophioglossura sive Lingua serpentina. Park. Theatr. 506. 

 Latin s Ophioglossum. Rati Syn. 128. Ger, Em. 404. 



lOphioglossum vvilgatum, Lin. Sp. Plan. 1518. 



French La Langue de Serpent ; Ophioglosse ; L'Herbe sans couture. 



Italian .... Lingua di Serpente. 

 Spanish . . . Lengua de Sierpe. 

 Portuguese Lingua de Serpente. 

 German ... Natterzunge ; Schlangenzunge. 

 Dutch .... Adderstong ; Natertong. 



Description. — The Adder's-tongue rises from a small fibrous 

 root, to the height of five or six inches from the ground. The 

 stem is simple and bears but one leaf, which is ovate, obtuse, 

 very entire, smooth, and free from veins. The spike rises from 

 the base of the leaf, and is merely a continuation of the stalk ; 

 it is lanceolate, at first green, afterwards brown. The capsules 

 are numerous, one-celled, two-valved, united by a membrane 

 into a two-ranked spike, opening transversely when ripe, and 

 discharging the seeds. 



The singularity of this little plant will readily point it out to 

 notice. Its narrow-pointed spike peeping up among the grass, 

 may not inaptly be compared to a snake's tongue ; a peculiarity 

 which seems to have obtained for it nearly the same name in all 

 the European languages, as may be seen in the synonymes. It 

 grows in moiist meadows and woods, and by the sides of rivulets. 



