1 62 THE FERN PARADISE. 



branches ; the branches bearing fan-shaped leaflets, 

 which have their edges notched. On the back of 

 these lobes or leaflets are the spores. When these 

 are shed, in the late summer or autumn, the Gym- 

 nogram dies. The spores, thus shed, germinate, 

 and the plants produced, attaining maturity in the 

 following summer, again die, after producing in 

 their turn the spores for the succeeding season. 



Jersey is the only habitat of the Annual 

 Maidenhair. There it grows in moist hedge- 

 banks. But, curiously enough, it has an antipathy 

 to the shade of trees, although it likes, when 

 growing in the open banks of the hedges, the 

 shelter of dwarf vegetation ; sometimes choosing 

 to keep company with the moss which is to be 

 found in such situations. In cultivation it should 

 be grown in the greenhouse, or, if in the dwelling- 

 house, under glass ; and the soil adapted for it is 

 light sandy loam. 



