Asplenium scolopendrium

Native to the UK and Europe, Asplenium scolopendrium, the Hart's Tongue Fern, with its long, shiny strap-like fronds is one of the most attractive of the smaller ferns and a personal favourite. Like its more tropical cousin, Asplenium nidus, it has elegant undivided fronds which contribute to giving it an extra element of exoticness. They are a very rich glossy green and form a clumping arching rosette that is extremely pleasing and restful to the eye.

It likes an organic somewhat alkaline soil and the addition of leaf-mold and a little lime to the substrate a couple of weeks before planting is ideal.

At home in a glade or woodland setting, or in a damp spot, along a watercourse, or in dappled shade beneath the canopy of larger trees, Hart's Tongue Fern is also particularly effective and very striking when planted en masse in large drifts. In the wild it is often found growing on steep banks or the damp crevices of rocks or stone walls. Its relatively small root system makes it ideal to grow as an epiphyte in the nooks and crannies of trees, tree ferns and palms, particularly in the fibrous matting and petioles of a Trachycarpus or the trunk of a Dicksonia. It should be planted on the damper north side of the trunk and kept moist with a small piece of old mortar added to the growing medium.