Fronds thick and leathery, oblong-lanceolate from an auricled, heart-shaped
base, ten to twenty inches long and one to two inches wide. Margin entire,
bright green.
In shaded ravines under limestone cliffs. Chittenango Falls, and
Scolopendrium Lake, central New York, and Tennessee. Also, locally in
Ontario and New Brunswick. One of the rarest of our native ferns, although
very common in Great Britain. This plant is said to be easily cultivated,
and to produce numerous varieties. According to Woolson, "No rockery is
complete without the Hart's Tongue, the long, glossy, undulating fronds
of which are sufficiently unique to distinguish any collection." In
cultivation it "needs light protection through the winter in northern New
England."
[Illustration: Hart's Tongue. _Scolopendrium vulgare_ (Base of calcareous
rocks, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada)]