THE FERNS 
OF 
GREAT BRITAIN 
Cuass III. ACOTYLEDONES. 
Order CII. FILICES—FERN TRIBE. 
GONE may often observe that persons who are fond of nature, and who have 
yet never studied Botany systematically, are desirous of commencing that 
study with Ferns. Their extreme elegance of form, the small number of the 
British species, the apparent simplicity of their structure, and the comparative 
ease with which they may be preserved and formed into a good collection, 
all tempt the learner to “begin at the beginning,” and to proceed afterwards 
to what he would consider as the more complicated part of Botany. Yet 
the study of the ferns really requires more attention, and even offers more 
difficulties, than that of most orders of the Flowering Plants. The scientific 
descriptions, founded often on more minute distinctions, are less obvious ; 
and in sore few cases, even among our British ferns, it is hardly possible to 
decide whether a plant should be regarded as a species or a variety, while 
their classification cannot be considered as even yet fully settled. There are, 
however, few things which are worth knowing that can be known without 
patient attention, and we rejoice in finding this bestowed on the study of 
these beautiful plants. It is pleasant to see the rambler in the country 
searching through green lane or by dripping well for the feathery fern, or 
wandering over the open moor with his handful of 
‘* Heath-bells dark, and bracken green.” 
It is pleasant to see the graceful sprays of these plants made the objects of 
care and culture, and to mark them while waving over fern banks and fern 
walls, which have been reared for the purpose of adapting soils and situa- 
tions, light and shadow, so as would best suit the ferns taken from various 
wild spots. Means are thus afforded for their study to those who have 
leisure, while the rock garden is often, also, adorned by the fronds of some 
of the more hardy kinds; and some of the most rare and delicate may be 
found in the greenhouse, or even in the dwelling-rooms of the city, forming 
