194 THE FERN PARADISE, 



upon, and is of a tint that is most exquisite!} 

 delicate and beautiful. The pretty little fern is ir 

 general very abundant in the localities where it 

 is found ; but these are chiefly away from th; 

 southern counties of England. In the north- 

 western counties, in Wales, and also in Scotland, 

 it is plentifully distributed. In Ireland it is rare 

 It is found in very much the same situations a<- 

 the Mountain Polypody; and it delights in the 

 same kind of soil, but it does not need quite the 

 same amount of moisture which is demanded by 

 Polypodium phegopteris. Like all the Polypodies, 

 it has a creeping rhizome. In fact, it is a wonderful 

 traveller: and, in cultivation, is often found to 

 come up in places where it is not expected, so 

 extensively does it creep. From the under surface 

 of the rhizome, or creeping root-stock, proceed its 

 fibrous roots ; and these oftentimes, when thj 

 fern is growing on a spongy bed of leaf- 

 mould, become densely matted. From all parts 

 of its travelling rhizome start the pretty and 

 delicate fronds; sometimes in such profusion 

 as to give to them the appearance of a 



