280 liAIJj'-IKJURS IN THE GREEN LANES. 



time, when hardly any other green thing appears, 

 and then you may see the golden yelloAV sori 

 arranged in pairs on the back of the pinnules. The 

 late summer is the time to look along the banks of 

 moist dykes, or in old wells, or the crevices of wet 

 rocks for the Hart's Tongue Fern (Scolopendrium 

 vvdgare}. You cannot mistake the long green leaves, 

 hanging down like so many ribbons. This is one 

 of our favourite domesticated ferns, as it will grow 

 readily where there is moisture and subdued light. 

 If you examine the back of one of the mature fronds 

 you will see dark lines running parallel with the 

 veins. These are the sori. In company with the 

 hart's tongue you will find the Male Fern (Lastrea 

 jiUx-mas) a name given to it when it was believed 

 to be the male form, of which the Female Fern 

 (Athyrisfilix-foemina) was the female. We now know 

 they belong, not only to different species, but also 

 to different genera. Most delicately cut plants they 

 are, excelling in beauty and elegance many foreign 

 ferns grown in our conservatories. The Holly Ferns 

 are also common (Polystichum), and these may be 

 known by the feature which has given to them their 

 popular name, viz., the minute prickles which 

 terminate the serrations of the pinnules. 



In a botanical ramble down Growdale Glen, in the 

 Isle of Man, many years ago, we came across a 

 clump of bright green ferns, four or five feet in 

 height, which for a moment made us draw back in 

 admiration. Nover before had we seen such a sight 



