EXTRACTS OF PROCEEDINGS. 



lxxxv 



is not a very extensive one, and is represented in the British 

 Islands only by Scolopendrium vulgare, popularly known as the 

 Hart's Tongue Fern. It is easily recognised by its strap-like 

 fronds, more or less heart-shaped at the base, and tapering to a 

 blnnt point at the tip. Although, comparatively speaking, a 

 common plant, S. vulgare is frequently absent from many 

 situations where one would naturally expect to find it growing 

 freely. The plants thrive on the walls of old ruins as well 

 as in the soil. Under the former condition, however, the fronds 



Fig. 64. — Todea superba. 



are generally stunted, while under the latter, which seems to be 

 the most favourable, growth is luxuriant, the fronds often 

 attaining a length of two to three feet, especially near the banks 

 of shady streamlets and sheltered copses. 



By means of careful cultivation and hybridisation, the 

 ordinary simple fronds have developed innumerable variations 

 of form, all tending in the direction of crispness or dissection. 



Many of these beautiful forms were to be seen at the exhibi- 

 tion, the most noticeable being Goolingii, crispum, crispatum, 

 cristulatum, densum, fissum, grandiceps, &c. 



The " Royal Fern " (Osmunda regalis), also often called the 



