102 THE FERN PARADISE. 



ferns, commences the leaf, technically and beauti- 

 fully styled the frond. At this point commences 

 the exquisite grace and beauty of the plant. Its 

 midrib, from the point where leaving the stipes 

 the frond commences, is called the racltis. Should 

 the rachis have ribs branching either horizontally 

 or obliquely away from it, these ribs are still called 

 the rachis, its parts being distinguished the one 

 from the other by the terms, the primary or the 

 secondary rachis. Upon the rachis it is that grow 

 the leaves, leaflets, pinnules, and lobes, either in a 

 simple or a compound form ; and it is their infinite 

 variety of form simple, scalloped, saw-edged and 

 the exceedingly graceful manner in which they are 

 arranged on the rachis, that constitute the peculiar 

 elegance of a fern. The manner in which the 

 fronds of ferns spring up from the crown of the 

 plants is another peculiarity in their growth, and 

 one that distinguishes them from ordinary plants. 

 On starting from the crown the fronds have the 

 appearance of so many little balls, which as they 

 develop unroll upwards. It is then seen that the 

 whole frond has been rolled together in circinate 



