Hart's Tongue Fern

Harts tongue fern is a fern native to shaded, damp limestone woodlands and rocky crevices across Europe and parts of Asia and North America, distinguished from most ferns by its simple, strap-shaped, undivided fronds rather than the finely divided fronds typical of the group. Its long, leathery, evergreen leaves grow in dense clusters directly from a short rootstock. On the underside of mature fronds, rows of narrow brown spore clusters run in parallel lines, giving the reverse of the leaf a distinctive herringbone pattern.