THE LITTLE ADDERS-TONGUE. 
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rises from a fleshy, brittle cluster of twisted 
roots ; but unlike Vulgatum , barren stem and 
seed-bearing spike, instead of rising some dis- 
tance together above ground in the form of a 
stem, before separating into the leafy and the 
fertile branches, in most instances start separately 
from the ground. Like its relative Vulgatum , the 
Little Adders-tongue has a stem to its seed- 
bearing spike which rises above the barren frond. 
At the top of the spike begins the fructification ; 
an arrangement of two rows of cases — one 
on each side of the stalk supporting them. In 
these cases are the dust-like spores, which, as 
they ripen, escape through the crevices formed 
by the splitting of their little prison houses. 
One peculiarity must be noted in the Little 
Adders-tongue. Vulgatum first sends up its 
frond in May, from which time it remains 
until the late summer, when it disappears — the 
root remaining dormant — until the succeeding 
spring ; but Lusitanicum starts into life and 
vitality in dreary January, lasts only a short 
two or three months, and perishes very early 
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