THE POLYPODIES. 
119 
P. p. miiltiiidum (mucli-cleft), a wild find, with pinn^ 
and frond tips flatly but somewbat irregularly crested. 
The Common Polypody 
{Polypodium vulgare). 
This Fern is one of tbe most generally distributed, and 
differs in many respects from tbe other members of tbe 
family already described. First and foremost, unlike tbe 
others, it is a thorough evergreen, retaining its verdure quite 
Fig, 26 ,— Polypodium vulgare, showing Habit and Under Surface of Portion 
of Detached Frond. 
fresh right through the winter. The fronds are sometimes 
18in. in length, but only once divided, the pinnae being nor- 
mally smooth-edged, and broadening out at their bases, so 
that they generally join, and form a continuous, narrow 
wing on each side of the central stalk {vide Plate Y., 1). The 
creeping rootstock is fleshy, and as thick as the little finger, 
while the fronds are comparatively leathery, and of a dark green 
colour, bearing on their backs the large, golden-yellow heaps of 
spores, which form most conspicuous and beautiful examples 
