THE PLANT BODY. 107 



fies to its great abundance ; for a brake is a dense thicket or 

 undergrowth as for example a cane l ' brake. ' 



AVhen fully grown (Fig. 44) the common brake has a leafy 

 top supported by a polished, dark-colored, erect stem, which in 

 New England rises to a height of from one to four feet above 

 the ground. In this climate, however, it appears to be some- 

 what undersized, for it grows to a height of fourteen feet in 

 the Andes, * and in Australia attains to twice the height of a 

 man, forming a dense undergrowth beneath tree-ferns 40-100 

 feet liigh.f I 11 Great Britain it is from six inches to nine feet 

 high (Sowerby), or even larger in exceptional cases. " In dry 

 gravel it is usually present, but of small size ; while in thick 

 shady woods having a moist and rich soil it attains an enormous 

 size, and may often be seen climbing up, as it were, among the 

 lower branches and underwood, resting its delicate pinnules 

 on the little twigs, and hanging gracefully over them.' 

 (Newman.) 



GENERAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE BODY. 



The body of the fern, like that of the earthworm, consists 

 of cells, grouped to form tissues and organs. Their arrange- 

 ment, however, differs widely from that in the animal, for the 



t/ 



plant-body is a nearly solid mass, and there are no extended 

 internal cavities enclosing internal organs. The organs of the 



O ~ -TT 1 



plant are for the most part external, and arise by local modifica- 

 tions of the general mass. Like many higher plants the body 

 of the fern consists of an axis or stem-bearing branches, from 

 which arise leaves. The fern differs i^^Wn ordinary trees, how- 

 ever, in the fact that the stem, with its branches, lies horizontal 

 beneath the surface of the ground. Only the leaves (fronds) 

 rise into the air. (Fig. 44.) It is convenient to describe the 

 body of the brake, accordingly, as consisting of two very dif- 

 ferent parts one green and leanike, which rises above the 

 ground ; the other black and rootlike, lying buried in the soil. 

 These will henceforth be spoken of as the aerial and the under- 

 ground parts. 



The underground part lies at a depth of an inch to a foot 



* Hooker, /. c. 



f Krone, Botan. Jahresbericht, 1876 (4). 346. 



