268 



CLASS CRYPTOGAMIA. 



Asplenium, which bears its fruit on the back of the leaves or 

 fronds ; at b, is a moss of the genus Hypnum, showing two of 

 its flowers borne on slender pedicels or stems ; at c, is a genus 

 of the Lichen family ; at d, is the Agaricus, one of the most 

 common of the mushrooms. 



Some writer has said, that Linnaeus, having arranged the 

 plants which would admit of classification, took the remainder 

 and cast them all into a heap together, which he called Cryp- 

 togamous ; he did not, however, rest satisfied in thus throwing 

 together the refuse of the vegetable world ; but subdivided this 

 miscellaneous collection into orders ; or we might more properly 

 say, that he gave names to those divisions already marked out 

 by nature. 



Of these orders, which are natural families brought together 

 on account of general resemblances and analogies, without re- 

 ference to any one principle, there are six. 



Filices, or FERNS. 



The 1st order contains the Ferns ; their plume-like leaves 

 are called fronds. The fruit, mostly disposed in dots or lines, 

 grows on the back, summit, or near the base of the leaf or 

 frond. You may here see (Fig. 127) a delineation of some of 



Fig. 127. 



the various modes in which the fructification of ferns appears ; 

 (a) genus POLYPODIUM or polypody, with capsules in roundish 

 spots on the back of the frond ; (b) ASPLENIUM, capsules in. 

 lines nearly parallel, diverging from the centre of the frond ; 



Orders marked out by nature Ferns Modes of the fructification of ferns. 



