13*3 FAMILY HERBAL. 



%r 



ALB Fern. Filios mas. 



A COMMQN weed gro^vi^g at the roots el 

 Ireesj and in dry ditches. It has do stalk for bear- 

 ing of flowers^ but several leaves rise together from 

 the roatj and each of these is in itself a distinct plant. 

 It is two feet high/ and near a foot in treadth ; 

 the stalk is naked for six or eight inches^ aiid thence 

 is set on each side with a row of ribs or smaller 

 ttalks, every one of which caitijs a double row 

 of smaller leaves^ with an odd oae at the end; the 

 Mihole together making up one great leaf, as in 

 many of the umbelliferous plants. 



On the backs of these smaller leaves stand the 

 feeds in round clusters ; they look brown and dusty. 

 The root is long and thick, and the whole plant 

 has a disagreeable smelK The root is greatly re- 

 coramended for curing the' rickets ia children. 

 With what success it would be hard to say. 



Female Fern. FUit fGCmina. 



A TALL and spreading plants common on out 

 heaths, and called by the country people brakes* 

 It grows four feet high. The stalks ace round, 

 greeOj and smooth ; the leaves are set on each Mide, 

 and are subdivided. The \vhoIe may indeed be 

 properly called only one leaf as in the male fern ; 

 but it has more the appearance of a number beeaosc 

 it is so ramose. The .«^mvili 1 *aves or pinnules which 

 go to makeup the large one^ are oblong, firm, hard, 

 and of a deep green colour, and they are so spread 

 that the whole plant is often three fe^^t wide. Oa 

 the ed^es of these Vdile leaves stand the seeds, 

 in smalt dust^ c!u^le^s, : But they are not so 

 frequent on tliis, as oo the m^^de fern^ for nature has 

 so well provided iVi the propagation of this plant 



