This is the twenty-fourth item from Robert Dymond’s book: “Things New and Old Concerning the Parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor and its Neighbourhood” (1876)
DARTMOOR FERNS.
THE many fern-hunters amongst our readers will thank us for reproducing the following from Cassell’s Magazine :—The common kinds of ferns—common only in the sense of being plentiful—are tobe found almost everywhere; but the home of our native ferns is Devonshire-—“ the Garden of England.”
“Amidst all our English counties, Devonshire, indeed, stands unrivalled for the exquisite loveliness of its scenery. Few of thosewho have climbed its bold heights, crossed its rugged moorlands, and wandered through its shady woods and its delightful greenlanes, will be inclined to dispute this assertion, however familiar they may be with English landscapes. It is the marvellous variety of itsscenery which constitutes the peculiar charm of this country, the rugged boldness of its many hills contrasting with the soft grace ofits valleys. I believe that thousands of tourists who annually visit the western “Garden of England,”–for Devonshire welldeserves that name—whilst deeply impressed with the general loveliness of the county, nevertheless find it difficult to explain what it is that lends the peculiar character of softness and grace to thescenery. The whole county is richly and luxuriantly clothed with ferns. The number and the variety of the most exquisite ofthese beautiful plants to be found in Devonshire are equalled by those of no other county in the United Kingdom. Devonshire is emphatically the paradise of British ferns. Therethey are in very truth at home. The soil and the air are adapted to them, and they adapt themselves to the whole aspectof the place. They clothe the hill-side and the hill-top; they grow in the moist depths of the valleys ; they fringe thebanks of the streams; they are to be found in the recesses of the woods ; they hang from rocks, walls, and trees, and crowd into thetowns and villages, fastening themselves with sweet familiarity even to the houses.”
Subjoined is a list of a few ferns of Widecombe and its neighbourhood, kindly furnished by Mr. Amery, of Druid.
| NAME. | COMMON NAME/CHARACTERISTICS. | HABITAT |
|---|---|---|
| Polypodium vulgare | Common polypody | Everywhere |
| ,, var serratum | In hedges | |
| ,, var semilacerum | Near Ashburton | |
| ,, phegopteris | Beech fern | Holne Moor |
| ,, a. small var | Walls, Dartmoor | |
| Allosorus crispus | Parsley fern | nr. Chagford, very rare |
| Polystichum lonchitis (?) | Holly fern | Chagford? |
| ,, aculeatum | Hard prickly shield | Common in hedges |
| ,, var ,, lobatum | Pseudo-holly fern | Hedges nr. Ashburton |
| Polystichum angulare | Soft prickly shield | Very common in valleys |
| ,, ,, many varieties | ||
| Lastrea, Oreopteris | Lemon scented fern | By all small streams |
| ,, Filix-mas | Male fern | Everywhere |
| ,, ,, many varieties | ||
| Lastrea cristata? | Crested fern | in deep woods |
| ,, dilatata | Broadbuckler fern | On rocks and in woods |
| ,, ,, many varieties | ||
| Lastrea. oemula | Hay scented | On some high tors |
| Athyrium Filix-foemina | Lady fern | Everywhere |
| ,, ,, var rhoeticum | By mountain streams | |
| ,, ,, var purpurea | In bogs | |
| Asplenium ruta.-muraria | Wall rue | Old sheltered walls |
| ,, Trichomanes | Common maidenhair | All rocks |
| ,, ,, var ramosum | Branched maidenhair | Buckland Woods |
| ,, ,, var digitatum | Buckland Woods | |
| ,, lanceolatum | Lanceolate spleenwort | Spitchwick |
| ,, adiantum-nigrum | Black spleenwort | Everywhere |
| Scolopendrium vulgare | Hart’s tongue | Everywhere |
| ,, ,, many varieties | In valleys | |
| Blechnum spicant | Hard fern | Woods and rocks |
| ,, ,, var ramosum | Buckland Woods | |
| Pteris aquilina | Common brake | Everywhere |
| ,, var multifida | Chagford | |
| Hymenophyllum | Film fern | HoundTor & Becky Fall |
| ,, tunbridgense | ||
| ,, Wilsoni | Chagford | |
| Osmunda regalis | Royal Fern | Banks of Webburn |
| Botrychium lunaria | Moonwort | Near Twobridges |