VI FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE 

 AND USUALLY SIMILAR ; FRUIT-DOTS ROUND 



Every lover of plants or of birds or of any natural 

 objects will appreciate the sense of something more 

 exciting than satisfaction which I experienced as I 

 knelt above the little plantation and gathered a few 

 slender-stemmed fronds. One such find as this 

 compensates for many hours of fatigue and discom- 

 fort, or intensifies the enjoyment of an already 

 happy day. The expedition had justified itself with 

 the first full view of the solemn, beautiful depths of 

 the cedar forest. The discovery of the Oak Fern 

 provided a tangible token of what we had accom- 

 plished, and when finally we found the tall, leafy 

 plants of the showy lady's-slipper, without a single 

 blossom left upon them, our disappointment was so 

 mild as to be almost imperceptible. 



As is often the case, having once discovered the 

 haunt of the Oak Fern, it ceased to be a rarity. It 

 joined the host of plants which climbed over the 

 mossy stumps and fallen logs, and at times it fairly 

 carpeted the ground beneath the cedars and hem- 

 locks. 



193 



