FERNS. 



25 



^ 



Fig. 26. 



globular bodies as in Fig. 

 27. By taking a side view 

 we discover that each of 

 these bodies is raised on a 

 stalk. (Fig. 28.) Inside 

 each of these bodies are 

 born nu- 

 merous 

 spores. 

 It fre- 

 quently 

 occurs 

 that the Fig. 27. 



fertile leaf, that which bears 

 the spore-cases on its back, 

 is oddly contracted and 

 rolled up, so that it loses 

 nearly all resemblance to 

 , a leaf. 

 Ferns 

 with the 

 fertile 

 frond transformed in this 

 manner are often called 

 " flowering ferns." One 

 is represented in Fig. 29. 

 One of the most peculiar 

 of all ferns is that known 



