HEATH’S FERN PORTFOLIO. 
'HA'KTSTO'iiGU'E—Scolopendrmm vvdgare. Fig. i. 
HAY-SCENTED BUCKLER FERN-Z, astrea recurva, Fig. 2. 
RIGID BUCKLER FERN — Lastrea rigida. Fig. 3. 
HARD 'F'EK'^—Blechnum spicant. Figs. 4 and 5. 
I TS name is sufficiently descriptive of the tongue-shaped frond of THE HARTSTONGUE— 
Scolopendrmm vtUgare. From a stout, tufted rootstock, the evergreen fronds grow abundantly, 
ranging from an inch or two to three feet in length. A few scales are scattered on the lower part 
of the stipes. The base of the leafy part is auricled on each side of the mid-rib, which, from this 
point to the pointed frond apex, is very stout and prominent. The sori, on the underside, run in 
parallel lines obliquely from the mid-vein, each conspicuous line consisting of two sori placed side 
by side so closely as to look like one elongated sorus. Habitats. — Rocky places, walls, hedge- 
banks, streamsides, and woods. Distribution. — Algeria, Azores, British Islands, Caucasian 
Mountains, Erzeroum, European countries generally, Gothland, Madeira, Mexico, Persia, 
Turcomania, United States, and Ural Mountains. 
THE HAY-SCENTED BUCKLER FERN — Lastrea rec^trva — reveals by its beautiful 
scent of hay the origin of its name. Its fronds, which reach a length of from one foot to two, 
bear a strong resemblance in form, though not in size, to those of Lastrea dilatata, already 
described. They are triangular, with— first— triangular, and then (higher up) lance-shaped pinnce-, 
divided into oblong, blunted pinnules, which, in the lower part of the frond, are again divided into 
oblong, serrated lobes, and higher up are merely serrated, the lower pinnules on the lower pinnce 
being longer than the upper ones. The lobes throughout are recurved, or concave on their upper 
sides, and the sort occur in lines along the mid-veins of the lobe or pinnule undersides. Habitats. 
— Moist sheltered woods, and the dampest, richest recesses of hedgebanks. Distribution. 
— Azores, British Islands, Cape de Verd Islands, and Madeira. 
A CERTAIN rigidity In its habit of growth makes appropriate the name given to THE 
RIGID BUCKLER FERN — Lastrea rigida. Its fronds, varying from one to two feet In 
length, are triangular, and are divided into narrowly triangular pinnce.^ which are In pairs, or 
alternate, and are divided into oblong, bluntly serrated pinnules, those in the lower parts of 
the lower pinnce being longer than the upper ones. The sori are produced in lines on each 
side of the mid-veins of the pinnules ox pinnce. Habitats.— Rocky positions in limestone districts. 
Distribution.- Asia Minor, Calabria, California, Croatia, Dalmatia, England, France, Germany, 
Hungary, Ireland, the Morea, Sardinia, Siberia, Sicily, Switzerland, and United States. 
TWO distinct kinds of frond — barren, growing from six Inches to two feet, and fertile, from 
one to three feet— are produced by THE HARD Y^^^—Blechnum spicant-2.n evergreen, 
leathery, and fitly-named fern. Narrow and lance-shaped, the pinnce in both fronds are oblong, 
blunt pointed, widest at the base, and usually connected there by a leafy wing running along the 
rachis. In both fronds the pinnce narrow towards the frond base and the frond apex, but those of 
the fertile fronds are much more attenuated, usually longer, and have their points curved upwards. 
The spore cases are so abundantly produced in lines on each side of the mid-veins of the pinnce, 
that when their growth bursts the indusmm which protects them, they become confluent, and densely 
cover the whole underside of the fertile frond, giving It a rich brown appearance. Habitats.— 
Moist sloping woodsides, moist lane-banks, and stream banks. Distribution.— Africa, America 
(North-west) Australia, Azores, British Islands, Canaries, Chili, Europe generally, Japan,. Madeira 
and Tenerilfe. 
