92 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



the broad triangular frond is chiefly supported by the ledge of the 

 crevice. When one does manage to extract the plant from its 

 crevice the slender dark-brown or black stalk is found to be too 

 weak and brittle to support the weight of the frond, so that the 

 leaf either snaps across or sprawls in a manner very different from 

 its graceful drooping appearance when left undisturbed. How- 

 ever, this fern is easily cultivated in well-drained sandy soil in a 

 rockery, where we can more or less closely imitate its peculiar 

 mode of growth hanging out of a deep crevice in a vertical wall 

 or steep rock-face. 



The Hard Fern (Lomaria Spicanf) grows in woods and beside 

 streams, and is easily recognised by having the fertile (spore- 

 bearing) leaves quite distinct from the ordinary leaves. The 

 latter are usually about 8 inches long, and spread out, or lie 

 nearly flat ; the leaflets are in two rows, as in common polypody, 

 and are crowded together on the leaf -stalk. The fertile leaves are 

 brown, stand erect in the centre of the rosette, and are about twice 

 as long as the barren leaves ; the leaflets are narrow and spaced 

 out, and their edges are curled over the spore-masses on the 

 under side. The barren leaves are evergreen, thick, and leathery, 

 but the fertile leaves die down as soon as the spores have been 

 scattered. 



The Hartstongue (Scolopendrium vulgare) has strap-shaped 

 leaves arising from a short and more or less erect stem. It looks, 

 at first sight, more like a dock than a fern, but is at once recognised 

 as being a fern by the spore-masses, which are arranged in lines 

 on the under side of the leaf. The leaf varies in length from a few 

 inches when growing on dry walls, to a yard when on moist and 

 shaded banks. Though not evergreen, the hartstongue always 

 shows some green leaves, because the old leaves do not die down 

 until the young ones have expanded. The spores are very easily 

 grown, the prothalli and young fern plants being obtained more 

 certainly and quickly than in most other ferns. The young leaves 

 are covered with silvery scales, and are at first erect, though 

 later they usually hang downwards, especially when the plant is 

 growing in its favourite habitat on a wall or sloping bank. 

 The long strap-shaped leaves are well adapted to this mode of 

 growth, hanging out from the wall or bank, and catching the 



