30 THE FERN PARADISE. 



aquilina). These are the giants of the British fern 

 family, growing in their branching tree-like form 

 to a height sometimes of ten feet. Peering into 

 the dark depths of the hedges on either side, we 

 discover trailing out of the close masses of ivy 

 which encircle the gnarled and matted roots of the 

 trees, the pretty fronds of the Polypody (Polypo- 

 dium vulgar e). The Polypody, like the Harts- 

 tongue, will grow almost anywhere on walls, in 

 hedge-banks, and on trees ; but it becomes a puny 

 plant when growing in dry, hot, and exposed situa- 

 tions. It delights most to nestle amongst the 

 twisted branches of the pollard-tree. There its 

 creeping fleshy roots, feeding on the rich leaf-mould 

 which collects in the crevices between the matted 

 roots of ivy, love to hide, and from these moist 

 nooks are sent out numerous tufts of bright green, 

 narrow, lance-shaped fronds a stem, a midrib with 

 alternate lance-shaped leaflets, each leaflet mid- 

 ribbed in its turn, and beautifully veined through- 

 out ; the round golden masses of spores each 

 mass collected in lines on the backs of the leaflets 

 giving to the plant a beautiful appearance. 



