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| GROUP IV | FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE AND SIMILAR; SPORANGIA ON OR BENEATH A REFLEXED MARGIN |
In the spring or early summer its solitary spreading frond, light-green and delicate in color, might almost be confused with the Oak Fern.
Brake Later its green takes on a dark, dull shade, and its general aspect becomes more hardy than that of any other fern.
The Brake is believed to be the "fearn" of the early Saxons and to have given this prefix to many English towns and villages, such as Fearnhow or Farnhow, Farningham, etc.
It is one of the few ferns mentioned by name in general literature. In the "Lady of the Lake" it is alluded to in the song of the heir of Armandave:
"The heath this night must be my bed,
The Bracken curtain for my head."
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