OPHIOGLOSSUM. 



27 



Tropical America, from Cuba to Peru and South Brazil ; in Polynesia, the 



Malayan and the Philippine Islands ; in the East Indies as far north as the 



Himalayas, on the Gruinea Coast, in Zambesi Land, in Cape Colony, &c. Its 



fronds, 6in. to 12in. long, of a thin texture, with distinct veins and usually 



no midrib, have their barren division placed near the middle ; this portion, 



which shows distinctly heart-shaped 



lobes at its base, is blunt or nearly 



so at its summit, and measures 2in. 



to oin. in length and l^in. to 2in. 



in breadth. The fertile spike, lin. or 



more in length and borne on a 



slender peduncle 2in. to 4in. long, 



much overtops the barren portion 



of the frond. — Hooker and Greville, 



Icones Filicum, t. 20. Nicholson, 



Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 500. 



Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, 



t. 70. 



O. tuberosum — tu-ber-o'-sum 

 (tuberous). Synonymous 

 with 0. bulboswn. 



O. Yulgatum — vul-ga'-tum 

 (common), Linnaeus. 

 This, the common Adder's- 

 tongue (Fig. 8), has a most extensive 

 habitat, for while it is a well-known 

 British Fern, it also occurs from 

 Lapland to Japan and the Hima- 

 layas ; in the Azores, on the Guinea 

 Coast, in St. Helena, Cape Colony, Australia, New Zealand, Temperate North 

 America, &c. Eaton, in " Ferns of North America," says, " The common 

 Adder's-tongue is commonest in low meadows, but sometimes found also on 

 dry hill- sides, from Canada and New England to Texas and Arizona ; also 

 in Alaska, Europe, Western Asia, Madeira, and the Azores." 



f/g. fi. Ophioglossum vulgatum, showing Creeping Rhizome 

 and Barren and Fertile Fronds 

 (i nat. size). 



