FERNS 



white people do not like it. It is too smoky and tastes 

 too much like tobacco to suit them. 



This plant is very easy to cultivate. It grows 

 beautifully in the house among other ferns. 



THE COMMON POLYPODY 



AMONG all our ferns there is probably .none more 

 common than the polypody. It will grow almost any- 

 where. It likes best, however, the top of a shaded 

 ledge of rocks where the soil is somewhat dry. 



You can see in the picture how slender the brown 

 rootstock is. This creeps along near the surface of 

 the soil. It was because this rootstock had so many 

 branches that the fern received the name of polypody, 

 which means "many feet." The spreading branches 

 seem to bind the plants together as they almost hang 

 over the rocky ledge. These ferns, thus bound to- 

 gether, have been compared to people who are climb- 

 ing the mountains and are kept from falling by a rope 

 which ties them together. 



The young fronds appear in the spring. Others 

 come up during the early summer. They are from 

 four to ten inches long. You can see in the picture 

 how the leaf is divided. The deep-green frond is thick 

 and leathery. This helps the fern to live through long 

 periods of dry weather. Even in midsummer the 



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