140 THE FERN PARADISE. 



other. In the smaller ones the division between 

 the lobes is less marked ; and this is the case in 

 every plant with the lobes which lie near the 

 points of the leaflets. 



The delightful, but most delicate, fronds of 

 the Lady Fern are cut down on the approach 

 of winter, during which the plant remains 

 dormant. But in spring, about May, new 

 fronds again start from the root-stock in 

 abundance; and in the height of summer the 

 beautiful plant attains the full glory of its 

 perfection, with its mass of light delicate- 

 green, arched and gracefully-drooping fronds, 

 at the back of which lie in thousands, en- 

 sconced under the protection of the charming 

 frilled, and indented lobes, the little horse- 

 shoe shaped cases which contain its myriads 

 of tiny seeds. 



Most cool and shady of cool and shady 

 nooks are the habitats of the beautiful Lady 

 Fern. Down by the river's brink, just where 

 the spray-flinging stream makes the air moist 

 and cool, and where overhanging boulders or 



