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)

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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 to be 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 those who have climbed its bold heights, crossed its rugged moorlands, and wandered through its shady woods and its delightful green lanes, will be inclined to dispute this assertion, however familiar they may be with English landscapes. It is the marvellous variety of its scenery which constitutes the peculiar charm of this country, the rugged boldness of its many hills contrasting with the soft grace of its valleys. I believe that thousands of tourists who annually visit the western “Garden of England,”--for Devonshire well deserves 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 the scenery. The whole county is richly and luxuriantly clothed with ferns. The number and the variety of the most exquisite of these 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. There they are in very truth at home. The soil and the air are adapted to them, and they adapt themselves to the whole aspect of the place. They clothe the hill-side and the hill-top; they grow in the moist depths of the valleys ; they fringe the banks of the streams; they are to be found in the recesses of the woods ; they hang from rocks, walls, and trees, and crowd into the towns 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

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