Classification of Plants 



171 



Gleichenia is a slender little fern with wiry stalks and 

 fronds, silvery at the back. 



Lomaria capensis, a large coarse fern with rope-like spread- 

 ing stems, may be known by the whole under surface of the 

 fertile fronds being covered with fruit-dots. 



Hy7nenophyllum and Trichomanes are found in deep ravines, 

 washed by the spray of waterfalls. The beautiful little fronds 

 are almost transparent, and the delicate creeping stems are 

 like threads. The spore-cases are clustered on a stalk, en- 

 closed in a tubular or cup-shaped indusium. The indusium 



Fig. 176. — Spore print of a mushroom. (Printed and photographed by 

 Ethel M. Doidge.) 



of Hyinenophylkim is deeply two-lob ed. That of Tricho?na?ies 

 is not slit, and the fronds are less divided. 



Adiantinn^ the Maiden Hair, may be known by the slender 

 black leaf stalks and the fan-like veining. The sori are on the 

 margins of the fronds, and the recurved edge of the frond 

 forms an indusium. The sori are not continuous, as in Pteris, 



Fungi. — Mushrooms and moulds are spoken of as sapro- 

 phytes and parasites in terms of reproach by the thoughtless, but 

 as they are so necessary in preparing material for soil, so that 

 it can be used for other green plants, do you not think that 

 they earn the right to have their food prepared for them in 

 return ? 



