248 THE FERN PARADISE. 



its name indicates it grows in marshes, preferring 

 those which are exceedingly boggy and wet, espe- 

 cially when the bog is immersed in the deepest 

 shade. Ordinarily it grows to a height of a little 

 more than a foot, but occasionally it grows to 

 more than double this height The fronds are of 

 two kinds, barren and fruitful, the fertile ones 

 being taller than the others. The stem of the 

 barren frond is long, thin, green in colour, and ex- 

 ceedingly fragile. The leafy portion is lance-shaped. 

 The rachis is thin, green, and fragile likes the stipes, 

 and on each side of it at intervals, sometimes 

 opposite in pairs, and sometimes placed irregularly 

 are the branches, narrow and lance-shaped, but 

 blunt-pointed. These branches are again divided 

 not quite down to their mid-stems, but almost 

 so into oblong, blunt-pointed lobes or leaflets. 

 The divisions between the lobes are very regular 

 and symmetrical, and go down so deeply between 

 the lobes as to leave only a narrow leafy wing or 

 expansion along the upper and under part of the 

 mid-stems. 

 About the entire aspect of the Marsh Fern there 



