Asplenium scolopendrium Linnaeus

Hart's tongue fern

Etymology From the Greek scolopendra, centipede, alluding to the two rows of sori which resemble the feet of a centipede.
Description Rhizome: erect, short, scales clathrate.
Frond: 40 cm high by 6 cm wide, evergreen, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 3:1 to 5:1.
Stipe: short, purplish-brown, continuing into the rachis, eventually becoming green, scales narrow, pale brown, vascular bundles: 2 C-shaped, back to back, uniting to 1 upwards to an X-shape.
Blade: simple, strap-shaped or lanceolate, heart-shaped base, glossy, bright gree, somewhat leathery, silvery scales, falling soon.
Pinnae: none; margins entire, becoming undulate with age; veins free, forking, stopping short of the margin.
Sori: linear, paired along a vein, in the upper half of the blade, indusium: thin, flap-like, opening toward the vein, whitish, on one side of the sorus, sporangia: brown sporangia from the paired sori merge, maturity: midsummer to late winter.
Culture Habitat: rocky woodlands on limestone. Distribution: central and southern Europe, east to Iran, northwestern Africa, Korea, Japan, Sakhalin, scattered populations in eastern North America. Hardy to -30°C, USDA Zone 4.
Synonyms
Phyllitis scolopendrium (L.) Newman
Phyllitis fernaldiana A. Löve
Phyllitis japonica Komarov subsp. americana (Fernald) A. Löve & D. Löve
Asplenium scolopendrium
Asplenium scolopendrium. habit, portion of frond with sori, indusia pair opening towards each other and silvery white scales (which will fall with maturity), stipe/rachis scales  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Øllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
Notes
Subtaxa North American and eastern Asian populations have twice the number of chromosomes. The North Americans are said to be more difficult to nurture, but are otherwise the same. :-)
Asplenium scolopendrium
Asplenium scolopendrium. Two c-shaped vascular bundles, back to back, at the base of the stipe.  Drawing from Ferns of Northeastern United States, Farida A. Wiley, 1936.
Asplenium scolopendrium
Asplenium scolopendrium. a) fronds; b) scaly stipe, pair of indusia opening towards the veins.  Illustration by V. Fulford from Ferns and Fern Allies of Canada, William J. Cody and Donald M. Britton, 1989, © Agriculture Canada, used with permission.
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