CHAPTER XI. 
THE ADDERS-TONGUE. 
Ophioglossum vulgatum. 
^OMEWHAT similar in its general habit to 
the Moonwort is the Adders-tongue. Like 
the former plant it is found in meadows, seeking, 
however, those which are very damp from the 
fact of having a clayish soil, and from being 
subject to occasional inundations. It grows to 
a length of from six inches to a foot high, the 
variation in length depending, as is the case 
with all ferns, and, indeed, with all plants, upon 
the conditions — whether favourable or otherwise 
— under which it is found growing. It has a 
twisted, fleshy root like the Moonwort, and a 
succulent stem. The frond is divided into two 
parts, — a barren leaf and a fertile spike or 
stem. There is a general resemblance in the 
Adders-tongue — leaf and seed-bearing spike— 
