AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 
XXIT 
Or all the Cryptogamous Plants, the Order 
Fitices, /erns, are the highest, notable at once 
for their vast variety, their graceful forms, and 
the interesting structure of their fructification. 
No doubt the reader has a fernery, or has 
ready access to one, whence a /voud can be 
gathered for examination. The leaf of a fern 
is usually called a /fvond, though the term 
leaf is also used; there are barren fronds 
and fertile ones, but the frond of a fern is an 
arrangement by which the stalk, leaves, ped- 
uncles, and seats of fructification are all com- 
bined, though none of these parts exist in the 
same distinctness as in flowering plants. 
The actual stem of the Fern is usually 
underground, but occasionally runs along the 
surface, and is then called a Ahzzome. This 
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