A FERNY DELL 



A CONGENIAL PLANT SOCIETY 



To discover such a fern-filled woodland as this would be 

 delightful anywhere, but especially is it so in the Prairie Prov- 

 inces, where, owing to the moderate rainfall and dry air, ferns 

 are not as much in evidence as in the moister parts of Eastern 

 Canada and British Columbia. It has been stated that ferns are 

 not found anywhere in the prairie region even where trees and 

 brush abound. Such a statement overstates a tendency, since our 

 picture, taken in prairie country, is evidence that luxuriant beds 

 of ferns do so occur, further, they are more numerous than is 

 commonly believed. 



They do not of course occur on the dry, open plains. Shade 

 and moisture are necessary for this Ostrich Fern, as it is called, 

 with its great fronds three to six feet high. But such favorable 

 conditions are found in wet woods and thickets, especially along 

 streams, and from Newfoundland to British Columbia, one 

 occasionally meets with it. As will be noticed, the fronds grow 

 in clusters or crowns. These spring from underground runners 

 sent out the previous season by the older rootstocks. Hence, 

 when the plant finds a suitable habitation, an extensive mass 

 of lovely foliage is soon formed. 



Ferns do not, like the flowering plants, produce seeds, but 

 rather great quantities of spores, minute and dust-like. These 

 spores are often borne in cases 011 the backs of the ordinary leaves, 

 but in other species, the one before us for example, special con- 

 tracted leaves, called fertile fronds are produced. 



Ferns are an ancient race. Before the coming of any bright- 

 colored flowers, even before the grasses, they appeared on the 

 earth. They flourished in great splendor during the Carboni- 

 ferous age, reaching the size of great trees. Along with /nml 

 club-mosses and horsetails, they covered the interminable 

 marshes of that time, ;m<l from the tropical luxuriance of their 

 growth resulted most of the coal beds of the world. Although 

 appearing so early, perhaps millions of years before man, the 

 grace and elegance of fern foliage, even as known to us in the 

 smaller forms descended from that distant age, has never been 

 surpassed. The Fern still delights us by its charming form and 

 restful green, and the strength of its appeal is measured by the 

 certainty with which it is assured a place in our schemes of home 

 and garden decoration. 



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