Skip to main content

Hart’s-tongue Fern

Asplenium scolopendrium

Months

Season

Colour

This evergreen plant has long, tongue shaped leaves with a pointy end.

Distribution

Widespread across Britain, except in the far north.

Habitat

Can be found in sheltered moist habitats such as woods, on hedge banks, in walls and in ditches.

Did you know?

  • The underside of the leaves have little marks reminiscent of centipedes legs, leading to the species name ‘scolopendrium’ (the Latin for centipede!)
  • A hart was an old name for a deer, so the plant was so-named as it specifically looks like a deer’s tongue.

Other Species

Scarlet Elfcup
Scarlet Elfcup

Scarlet Elfcup

Read more
Fly Agaric

Fly Agaric

Read more
Honey Fungus (Armillaria species) 
Honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, photographed on a dead branch in a woodland. The pale creamy brown of the fungus stands out against bright green mosses that cover the branch

Honey Fungus (Armillaria species) 

Read more