292 CHERSOPHYTES 



and the fan-like leaves are burnt or parched, the stems hidden underground 

 send forth new leaves. 



Fern-heath is likewise a kind of bushland, and is produced by the 

 widespread bracken-fern, Pteris aquilina. In the south of England this 

 fern may be seen as a dominant plant, often in company with Ulex 

 europaeus ; and likewise on Madeira in the Erica arborea region. In 

 Mediterranean countries and even in Brazil it is among the plants that 

 take possession of ground on which forest has been destroyed. Bushland 

 of bracken may be so dense as to be impenetrable without the aid of an 

 axe, and as to exclude nearly all other kinds of plants. In Africa, for 

 instance in Usambara, fern-heath likewise seems to appear on places 

 devoid of forest. 



Many other waste tracts probably belonging to this formation might 

 be mentioned, notably those described by Adamovicz^ as present in 

 south-eastern Europe. 



* Adamovicz, 1904, 



