COMMON ADDER’S TONGUE . 
6l 
of H tunbridgense are strictly annual, never growing 
for more than one year, while those of H . Wilsoni go 
on growing year after yean 
COMMON ADDER’S TONGUE. 
0PHIOGLOSSUM VOLGA TUM, 
Linnaeus, and generally adopted. 
(Plate XI. Fig. 4.) 
THIS is a curious species of fern, reminding one, in 
its mode of growth, more of the little plant known by 
the name of “ Cuckoo Pint,” or “ Lords and Ladies ”— 
Arum macidatum of botanists—than of a true fern. 
It is a small stemless plant, from three to nine inches 
high. The barren frond, which appears like a single 
green leaf, smooth, ovate, obtuse, with veins forming a 
distinct network, seems to inclose the stem or rachis 
of the fertile frond, which is an upright spike tapering 
towards the summit, and consisting of two lines of 
crowded spore-cases buried in the substance of the 
spike. When ripe, this spike opens and the pollen is 
discharged, so that the spike eventually resembles a 
double row of round empty cavities. 
This fern should be sought for not later than the 
middle of June, at which time it is fully developed. 
It is generally distributed all over England, and is 
very abundant where it does exist; so much so as to 
be injurious to other crops in many places. It is 
