BRITISH FBRHS. 
70 
toughened by the exposure natural to them. This Fern varies 
considerably, and has yielded some very fine forms. In Surrey 
we were recently shown some acres of a splendidly-tasselled 
type, shoulder high and pendulous with beautiful crests, a 
delightful sight. Three forms are almost ubiquitous, the common 
flat form, a crispate form, and a finely-cut form, while partially 
multifid types are common ; thoroughbreds, however, are rare. 
The best are : — 
Name. 
Where Found 
or Raised. 
Finder or Raiser and 
Date. 
Description. 
congcsta . . 
.. — 
— 
A splendid dense crispy 
foim, very handsome. 
cristata 
Several 
Several places . . 
All tips beau t if u 1 1 y 
tasselled. 
glomerata. . 
.. — 
— 
An extraordinary form, 
fronds flexuose, and all 
pi mi re rolled up into balls 
or twisted into knots. 
g. cristata. . 
.. — 
. — 
A cross with cristata, but 
the cresting is hidden by 
the rolled up character, 
and is only seen when 
unrolled. 
grand iceps 
.. — 
(r.) 
Very heavy crests, barren. 
variegata .. 
County Deny . 
Kyle 
Splashed with pure white. 
SCOLOPENDR1UM VULGARE (THE H ART’S-TONGUE). 
The Hart’s-tongue, normally, is one of the simplest Ferns in 
form, its fronds being plain, flat, and strap-like, commencing 
at the base with a short, dark-coloured stalk, whence the leafy 
portion starts with two rounded lobes, continues for some 
distance with parallel sides, and then gradually tapers to a 
blunt terminal point, the whole resembling a two-edged carving 
knife. A dozen or more such fronds, springing radially from a 
centre, and varying in length from a few inches to nearly a 
yard, constitutes the material out of which Nature has fashioned 
more varieties than any other known Fern can boast of, while 
in the hands of the cultivator, it has varied so much more as to 
render selection an extremely difficult task. This tendency to 
vary is the more remarkable, as the species is undoubtedly closely 
allied to the Asplenia, which vary little, the kinship being proved 
by an undoubted hybrid, raised by Mr. E. J. Lowe, between the 
Hart’s-tongue and A. ceterach. There are also many other 
Ferns in the world which bear similarly simple undivided fronds, 
but none of the species have afforded many sports. Nature — 
for as usual the wild finds constitute the cultivator’s starting 
point — in this Fern has varied every feature ; the normally 
single stalk and rachis is split up and multiplied in a practical 
infinity of ways, culminating in Kelway’s densum, a veritable ball 
of moss, the rounded lobes at the bottom she has expanded, 
