Letters to a Friend 



just sufficient stiffness to make them arch with 

 inimitable beauty as they reach down to wel 

 come the water to the light. This, I think, is 

 one of Nature's finest pieces most delicately 

 finished and composed of just this quiet flowing 

 water, sedge, and summer light. 



I wish you could see the ferns of this neigh 

 borhood. We have some of the finest assem 

 blies imaginable. There is a little grassy lake 

 let about half a mile from here, shaded and 

 sheltered by a dense growth of small oaks. Just 

 where those oaks meet the marginal sedges of 

 the lake is a circle of ferns, a perfect brother 

 hood of the three osmundas, regalis, Clayto- 

 niana, and Cinnamomea. Of the three, Clay to- 

 niana is the most stately and luxuriant. I never 

 saw such lordly, magnificent clumps before. 

 Their average height is not less than 3! or 4 

 feet. I measured several fronds that exceeded 

 5, one, 5 feet 9 inches. Their palace home 

 gave no evidence of having ever been trampled 

 upon. I do wish you could meet them. This is 

 my favorite fern. I 'm sorry it does not grow in 

 [27] 



