Ednas Fernery 123 



The bracken fern grows everywhere, so it was not 

 surprising to lind it there, in dry soil in the blazing 

 sun. The maiden-hair, however, looked different 

 from the one at her home, being much more delicate 

 and having smaller leaflets. 



The others she did not know, but they were beau- 

 tiful just the same filmy-ferns, holly-ferns, leather- 

 ferns, polypodies, serpent-ferns, strap-ferns, climb- 

 ing-ferns, grass-ferns, spleenworts, halberd-ferns, 

 and tree-ferns all differing in the shape of their 

 wonderful fronds and showing the most delicate 

 shades of green. 



A Tadpole Stage in Ferns 



Edna imitated William's example and planted the 

 ''seeds" which she found on the under sides of her 

 ferns, but was disappointed in the results. Nothing 

 came up except some tiny little green things that 

 were flat and shaped like a heart, and she pulled 

 most of them up for weeds. What was her surprise, 

 a week or two later, to And a pretty little tern grow- 

 ing from one of these "weeds!" She watched them 

 closely after that and decided that ferns pass through 

 a kind of tadpole stage and that the little heart- 

 shaped growths correspond to the tail of the tadpole. 



Edna's conclusions were not far from correct. 



