LECTURE XIX. 



THE " Male Fern " Aspidium filix-mas is easily procured 

 for study. It is one of the commonest of our native ferns and 

 is found in large quantities in hedgerows and woods. Most 

 people are familiar with its large, green, graceful leaves, con- 

 verging to a centre where are found the young, incurved 

 leaves, covered with golden-brown scales, reminding one of 

 the furry paws of an animal. The mature leaves together 

 form a funnel-shaped crown, 2 or 3 feet in diameter. At the 

 margin of the funnel are the recurved leaf-tips. Their stalks 

 run down together to the top of the stem. The stalk of each 

 leaf is continued upwards as a central shaft the rachis. On 

 each side of this there is a series of leaflets the pinnae 

 gradually diminishing in size from below upwards. Each pinna 

 is attached to the rachis by a short stalk which is continued 

 outwards as a mid-rib in the leaflet. The general outline of 

 each pinna is feather-shaped, its length being about ten times its 

 breadth at the base, but its margin is deeply indented. The 

 indentations are often so deep that they reach the mid-rib, and 

 may divide the pinna into secondary leaflets the pinnules. 

 This is especially the case in the inner parts of the basal pinnae. 

 The lower parts of the rachis and of the leaf-stalks are covered 

 more or less thickly with golden-brown scales. 



The stem can only be satisfactorily seen by digging up the 

 plant and washing away the soil which adheres to it. It will 

 then be found to be an irregular, rough and often somewhat 

 curved cylindrical mass, entirely covered over with the bases 

 of leaves. The part which is buried deepest in the soil is 

 somewhat narrower than the upper end and converges to a 

 point. The top of the stem is covered over by the incurving 

 young leaves, each of which is curled inwards and rolled up 

 on itself; below and outside these are the fully developed 

 green leaves. The lower part of the stem is closely covered 

 with the quill-like remains of the partially-decayed bases of 

 older leaves. From these older leaf-bases numerous roots come 



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