358 POPULAR FIELD BOTANY. 
very different from the rest, that it cannot be mistaken. In 
the first place it is very noble in size, beng commonly seven 
or eight feet high, and has been found nearly twelve. In 
most cases it is erect, in large masses, so as to form a thick 
bush, at others, and near water, gracefully pendant. The 
young fronds first appear in May, arriving at maturity in 
August, and I have found it even earlier than this at the 
little village of Minsted, Sussex, where it’ grows abundantly 
in damp woods; its growth must therefore be very rapid. 
All the fronds do not bear seed; they are large, twice 
divided, and the upper one in those that are fertile is com- 
posed of a cluster of spikes covered with seed : these appear 
to have been leaflets; but the seed has completely changed 
their appearance. Withering, the botanist, calls this noble 
plant the “ flower-crowned prince of English Ferns.” 
