24 HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS 



as Pteridosperms, even though they had a 

 superficial resemblance to Ferns. After a large 

 amount of patient research it has been demon- 

 strated that these plants bore seeds. The 

 method of flowering and seed-production was 

 vastly different from that which is to be ob- 

 served in the flowering plants of to-day. The 

 male or pollen-bearing organs were produced 

 straight on the foliage in much the same way 

 as the sporangium of a true Fern is developed. 

 In a similar manner the seeds were borne straight 

 on to the leaf. In some general points these 

 plants also bore a strong resemblance to the 

 Ferns, and it was this which misled the early 

 observers. Without a doubt these Pterido- 

 sperms were related to the Ferns, and probably 

 at some remote period the two groups had a 

 common ancestry. There is good reason for 

 believing that at the same time these Pterido- 

 sperms were flourishing true Ferns were also well 

 represented. 



Now the interesting point about these Ferns 

 is that they were not vastly different, in many 

 ways, from the species which exist on the earth 

 at the present time. Of course certain types, of 

 which we have living examples, were more fully 

 represented than is the case nowadays ; on the 

 other hand, some of our most widely distributed 

 families seem to have been at rather a low stage 

 in their history. As well, the remains evidence 

 a large number of very simple species, which 

 perhaps give us an idea of what the original 

 Ferns were like. But on the whole there is 

 nothing to show that our living Ferns are any 

 more developed than the highest types which 

 grew in the coal forests. In these far-away 

 times there were Tree Ferns ; but so there are, 

 of course, at the present time. 



