FEUNS. 219 



In some species the stipes are clothed with finer or coarser scales, 

 -which have been thought to be dead or effete leaves ; in some the scales 

 extend along the rachis, and even to the mid-ribs of the pinnse and 

 pinnules. Some of these clothing scales are soft, others more bristly or 

 hairy ; in some ferns they are light fawn brown, in others very dark ;_ 

 some are silvery white, as in the early growth of Osmunda Claytoniana, 

 and in the Lady-fern, Asplenium filix-fa'mina. Some lose the scales as 

 they advance to their full growth, others retain them. 



As regards their stems or stipes, ferns are found to vary very much ; 

 in some ferns they are round, smooth and polished. Some are deeply 

 grooved down the centre. Some are black like ebony, others green of 

 many shades, red, or of a fine warm brown. That beautiful fern known 

 as Gossamer Fern, Dicksonia pilosiiesatla, has the stem of a bright 

 chestnut colour in the older fronds, or golden brown in the younger. 

 This is one of the most lovely of our wood ferns. 



Botanists give great prominence to the veinings of ferns, by the 

 situation of which and the manner in which they fork or branch, and 

 the positions which they occupy in the leafage, many nice questions as 

 to the separation of Species, and sections of Genera maybe determined. 



By spores we must understand what is equivalent to seeds in flowers 

 for reproducing the parent plant. The fern seeds, for so in common 

 parlance we will call these spores, are very minute, as fine as powder or 

 grains of dust, and so light and volatile thit they would fly away on the 

 slightest agitation of the plant. But nothing is left to accident. We 

 find a beautiful provision made by the all-wise Creator to protect these 

 delicate organs ; the seeds are covered in all ferns by a thin veil or 

 spore-case known as the sporangium which shields the tender things, and 

 preserves them from loss ; and in some instances, besides this, a further 

 protection is given by the indusium, a membranous covering, formed 

 either from the reversed margin of the leaflet, as in the Brakes and 

 Maiden-hair Ferns, or a separate scale-like organ as in the Aspidiums 

 Nature displays a great variety of methods to ensure the safety of her 

 -children. 



" Nature all her children viewing, 

 Gently, kindly cares for all." 



That a very limited number of fern seeds germinate and become 

 perfect living plants, I think may be inferred from the countless number 

 that are produced on the fertile frond of a fern, compared with the few 

 seedlings that become living plants. A single fertile frond of one of 

 our stately Osmundas or Aspidiums, one would suppose produced 

 sufficient seeds to stock an acre of ground, and yet we perceive no such 



