THE HABTSTONGUE. 
265 
2 . 
THE HABTSTONGUE. 
8colopendrium vulgare. 
Plate 1 , Fig. 2 . 
IMPLEST and most easily recognizable 
of the Ferns of Great Britain is the 
Hartstongue. Yet it is beautiful, not¬ 
withstanding its eminently simple and unpre¬ 
tending form. Its range is wide indeed— 
almost if not quite universal throughout Great 
Britain; very plentiful in England and Ireland, 
somewhat less plentiful in Scotland, and fairly 
distributed throughout Wales. You cannot mis¬ 
take its green tongue-shaped frond, narrow and 
tapering, simple and undivided; sometimes smooth 
and straight, sometimes crumpled, but always 
delightfully green. The Hartstongue is in fact an 
evergreen, its new fronds starting into sight in 
April or May, continuing to grow until the end 
of September—and retaining their greenness even 
throughout the winter. The description of this 
beautiful Fern cannot puzzle even the merest tyro 
