320 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



narrowed instead of being auricled at their base. The spore masses are either 

 linear or oblong. This species succeeds well planted out in a sheltered and 

 shady place, especially when kept in a vertical position amongst stones. — 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 4 ; Second Century of Ferns, t. 35. Correvon, 

 Les Fougeres rustiques, p. 124. 



S. YUlgare — vul-ga'-re (common), Smith. 



On account of the shape of its fronds, this ornamental, hardy species, 

 also known as S. officinale and S. officinarum, is popularly called the " Common 

 Hartstongue " Fern. It is a native of various parts of Europe, Madeira, the 

 Azores, and the Caucasus, as well as Japan and North and South America ; 

 but there are no records of its having been found in any part of India. 

 Eaton, in "Ferns of North America" (vol. i., p. 248), states that it is found 

 growing in the crevices of broken lime rock, in deep ravines in Onondaga 

 and Madison Counties, New York, Owen Sound, Ontario, and Canada, and 

 that, though among the rarest of American Ferns, it is a common plant in 

 Europe. Correvon states (" Fougeres rustiques," p. 120) that it is abundant 

 on the Jura Mountains and all over the Alps in limestone parts, that it is 

 also spread over the German States, Austria- Hungary, and all the South- West 

 of Europe, and is very plentiful in England and Ireland, but scarce in Scotland. 

 It is really one of the commonest of our British Ferns, and is to be found in 

 almost every county of the British Islands. 



Mr. W. Johnson, in his "British Ferns," published in 1861, states 

 (p. 264) that the "Hartstongue Fern" was known to Turner, Gerarde, Ray, 

 and other ancient herbalists as Phyllitis, and that a variety with the extremity 

 of the fronds divided into irregular ends is described and depicted by Gerarde 

 under the name of Phyllitis multifida. He says that Gerarde found it in the 

 garden of Master Cranwich, a chirurgeon dwelling at Much-Dunmow, in Essex, 

 "who," he adds, "gave me a plant for my garden." Although it is also 

 stated that Mr. C. Johnson found specimens 4ft. long and nearly 4in. broad 

 in the open vault near the great hall of Conway Castle, the normal fronds of 

 this species are 6in. to 18in. long and l^in. to 3in. broad ; they are borne 

 on stalks 4in. to 8in. long and hairy at the base, are strap- shaped, entire, 

 usually bluntish at their summit, and heart-shaped at the base. Their texture 

 is somewhat leathery and their colour usually bright green ; their fructification 



