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CHAPTER IX. 
Scolopendkitjm. —Masses of seed in lines , with 
an indusium. 
Scolopendeium YTTLGARE. Common Hart's- 
tongue . 
This fern has broad strap-shaped fronds, with a 
somewhat scaly stem, and is evergreen. The masses 
of sori, or seed, are in oblique lines, on each side 
the large central nerve or midrib, and are covered 
when young by a thin skin or indusium; as the 
seeds ripen, the indusium divides in the centre, and 
the two halves roll back, remaining attached by 
the length of one side to the frond. 
The varieties of this fern are both handsome and 
numerous. Mr. Moore, in ‘The Eerns, Xature- 
printed,’ which he has kindly permitted us to 
refer to, has named no less than sixty-six, and 
many of these forms may be met with in Devon. 
We have ourselves seen the following :— 
S. ramosum , certainly the most beautiful, as it 
