270 THE WALKING FERN AND HART’S-TONGUE. 
names. Hound’s-tongueand seaweed fern have reference 
to the shape of the fronds, while caterpillar fern and but- 
tonholes are doubtless in allusion to the appearance of 
the sori, When the sporangia are just pushing aside the 
white indusia their likeness to buttonholes is not difficult 
to imagine. The plant once had some repute as a 
remedy for burns and eruptions of the skin and was 
called burnt-weed. Britten says it is known as Christ’s 
hair in the Isle of Guernsey in allusion to the black vas- 
cular bundles in the stipe. The plant is mucilaginous to 
the taste and in France it is said to be infused with milk 
for the sake of the slight but pleasant flavour which it 
imparts to it. 
The hart’s-tongue has been reported from several 
stations in the vicinity of Syracuse, N. Y., and from one 
locality in Tennessee. Itisalso foundin New Brunswick 
and at Owen’s Sound in Canada. In the latter locality 
it is said to be fairly abundant. In the Old World it is 
found in Europe, the Azores, Japan, etc. The plant 
is easily cultivated and forms fine clumps which afford a 
pleasing contrast to the divided foliage of other ferns. 
Single plants have been known to have as many as thirty 
fronds at one time. Under cultivation it produces 
numerous varieties. Nearly a hundred are known. 
According to Moore, the fleshy bases of the stipes per- 
sist for some time after the fronds have perished. If 
these are cut apart retaining a part of the “rind of the 
caudex ”’ on each, and planted like root-cuttings, they 
will soon bud from the cut edges and form new plants. 
Our illustration was made from specimens collected at 
Chittenango Falls by the author. 
Scolopendrium is from the Greek for centipede, in 
allusion to the parallel lines of sporangia, which suggest 
