FERN LAND. 15 



riantly clothed with ferns. The number and variety 

 of the most exquisite forms of these beautiful plants 

 to be found in Devonshire are equalled by those of 

 no other county in the United Kingdom. Devon- 

 shire is emphatically the " paradise " of the British 

 ferns. There they are in very truth at home. The 

 soil and the air are adapted to them, and they adapt 

 themselves to the whole aspect of the place. They 

 clothe the hill-sides and the hill-tops ; they grow in 

 the moist depths of the valleys ; they fringe the 

 banks of the streams ; they are to be found in the 

 recesses of the woods ; they hang from rocks and 

 walls and trees, and crowd into the towns and vil- 

 lages, fastening themselves with sweet familiarity 

 even to the houses. 



Devonshire abounds in warm, moist, and shady 

 nooks ; and ferns delight in warmth, moisture, and 

 shade. Though they love the warmth, they avoid 

 the sun, and when accidentally exposed to its full 

 influence, their delicate fronds become shrivelled 

 and discoloured. Yet these beautiful plants do 

 occasionally coquet with the tiny sunbeam which 

 may perchance find its way through some crevice 



