FERNS 



inches high bear fruit clusters. There are others that 

 are five or six times as large. 



The name of rattlesnake fern was probably given 

 to this plant because of a likeness which was thought 

 to exist between the spikes of fruit and the rattle of 

 the snake. It is sometimes called the grape fern, be- 

 cause its clusters of spore cases look like bunches of 

 grapes. 



THE EBONY SPLEENWORT 



THE fern whose picture you see on the opposite 

 page belongs to a large family called "spleenwort." 

 A great many members of this family live in the United 

 States. We shall read about one only, the ebony 

 spleenwort. The home of this fern may be the woods, 

 the fields, or the roadside; but in a stony soil, for it is 

 a true rock lover. 



Notice in the picture how it grows. The rootstock 

 is small and the leaves grow in tufts. See how differ- 

 ent the fronds are. The short ones that spread out 

 close to the ground have no spores. Their leaflets are 

 close together. The fronds that bear the spores are 

 much longer and their leaflets are farther apart. They 

 generally spring up from the center and stand erect. 

 This helps them to scatter their spores to a greater 

 distance. 



You can see spores on two of the fronds. They al- 



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