Parts of a Fern 



ferns." Their prostrate stems continue year by year to 

 grow onward and to branch freely, and thus the fronds 

 of one season appear more or less distantly removed 

 from the positions occupied by those of previous 

 seasons. Ferns possessing rhizomes, or underground 

 stems, with tufted leaves, have frequently their growing 

 ends slightly elevated above the soil. This is the 

 nearest approach in British ferns to the perfectly 

 upright stems so characteristic of the tree-ferns of New 

 Zealand and other places. The rhizomes which creep 

 above the surface of the soil, and such as have their 

 growing tips lifted out of it, are frequently clothed with 

 a dense covering of golden or brownish scales, which 

 are often continued up the leafstalk. These scales act 

 as a protective covering against heavy rains and severe 

 frosts. 



The fern-leaf, or frond, consists of two parts the 

 leafy part and ths stalk. The stalk is continued right 

 up to the tip of the frond of which it forms the midrib. 

 The leafless part is termed the " stipes," and its con- 

 tinuation, the " rachis." The mistake, which many fall 

 into, of regarding the leafstalk as a stem, more especi- 

 ally when examining ferns with branching leafstalks, 

 must be carefully avoided. The beautiful little oak- 

 fern of our woods is a case in point. From an under- 

 ground rootstock appear leafstalks which, at a distance 

 of i or 2 inches from the ground, send off branches, 

 one to the right and one to the left. At a first glance 

 we are greatly tempted to call the lower part of the 



B.F. 17 3 



