VI PREFACE 



Additional plates are provided in which are depicted the 

 varied forms of fruit characteristic of the several families, the 

 process of reproduction, the degrees of complexity in frond 

 division, and so forth. These, it is hoped, will assist the reader 

 to obtain a clear idea of Fern organization and relationships 

 without giving the work too technical a character. 



In a large number of cases the drawings have had to be made 

 on a scale of considerable reduction, but a reference to the text 

 will always show what are the usual natural dimensions of the 

 frond. 



The greater number of the photographs were taken by the 

 author in the woodlands, on the mountain side and the sea- 

 cliff ; but some are from garden-grown specimens. 



