How to Know the Ferns

by S. Leonard Bastin

Scolopendrium vulgare. The Hartstongue.

This is certainly one of the most familiar of all British ferns. Almost alone amongst the well-known species, the plant has an uncut frond. The leaves rise from a tufted root-stock which generally stands well above the level of the ground. The length of the fronds varies considerably, and in a mature plant which has found a damp corner these are sometimes two or three feet in measurement. Where the plant has found a home on a dry wall, however, it may be a very diminutive affair. As a rule, the stipes will be about one-third of the whole frond, the leafy portion being long and tongue-shaped. At the tip the frond ends in a point, whilst towards the middle the leaf swells out again, narrowing once more towards the base and finally expanding again into a couple of ear-shaped projections. The rachis of the Hartstongue Fern is a very prominent feature, and at the back of the leaf appears in the form of a ridge.

The sori on the back of a Hartstongue frond.

From the rachis arise veins which run out to the borders of the frond, and parallel to these are the linear sori. Although at first sight this is not very apparent, the brown lines are composed of two sori which practically join together. The pairs of sori are covered with pairs of indusia which, on the maturity of the sporangia, open out opposite to each other. As a rule the sori are most plentiful on the upper portion of the frond of the Hartstongue. There are an immense number of varieties of the Hartstongue, some of which are familiar garden subjects. In a wild state it is not an uncommon thing to find fronds which are abnormal, and some of these show a greater or less tendency to develop fronds which are branched.

The Hartstongue is an excessively common Fern, often occurring in the greatest abundance. It is said to be less frequent in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom. Naturally it is of the simplest culture in the garden.

There is much division of opinion as to the position of the Fern, which we must now consider. In some quarters it has been given a place among the Spleenworts, but many authorities consider that the Hard Fern is the solitary British representative of its class.

Blechnum spicant. In this case the generic name is derived from a Greek word blechnon, a name for a Fern. The specific name, spicant, is from the Latin spica, “a point.” The application of the name is realized when the sharply-pointed pinnæ are examined. The species is in some books called Lomaria spicant and Blechnum boreale. The Hard Fern.

This species has a rather thin root-stock, from which arise large quantities of wiry roots. From the crown the two kinds of fronds are sent up. We may first consider the barren fronds: these vary according to the conditions under which the plant is growing, and range from a few inches up to one or two feet in height. The stipes is very short and it is of a brownish colour, with a few scales. The leafy part of the frond is narrowly lanceolate, tapering slightly at the point but more decidedly at the base. On either side of the rachis, which is green, are arranged the pinnæ; these are not opposite, but are in alternation. The pinnæ are narrow and oblong, and at the tip the frond tends to become pinnatifid, whilst at the base the pinnæ are little more than rounded lobes. The frond has been not inaptly likened to a double comb. The fertile frond has much the same outline as the barren one; it is, however, easily distinguished by its greater length and the extremely narrow pinnæ. These fertile fronds arise from the centre of the clump and are at their best about the month of June. They are very erect in their growth. The sporangia are borne along the margins of the pinnæ of the fertile fronds. The borders of the pinnæ seem to curl over and protect the sporangia; by a close examination it is easy to discover the independent indusia. When the spore capsules ripen they spread so that the whole of the underside of the pinnæ is covered. The texture of both the barren and the fertile fronds of the Hard Fern is very leathery.

The Hard Fern is, of course, a very common species, to be found all over the United Kingdom. The plant is of a simple culture and is evergreen in habit.