11 INTRODUCTION. 



tliat it is hoped will not be of long standing. The field is 

 wide, and as one class of plants occupy the attention of some, 

 and another class of others, it seems desirable for the universal 

 good of such a woi'k that it should be written in independent 

 volumes. Such a series of books might be comprised thus: — 

 "Native Ferns," "Bulbous Plants," "Alpine Plants," "Herba- 

 ceous Plants," "Hardy Annuals," and "Florist's Flowers." 

 Every one is interested in the history of what he possesses; 

 and one reason why our "Native Ferns" are so much admired, 

 is that a knowledge of them can be gained from books 

 published on the subject. There is no class of plants more 

 lovely than Ferns, yet there are many tribes equally so, and 

 indeed the combination of both is extremely desirable. Nature 

 mingles them together in the most exquisite manner, and what 

 can we copy equal to nature. 



The present work is written more especially to supply a 

 pictorial want, to make the amateur acquainted with his 

 Native Ferns without the labour of botanical study. Some 

 persons have not the time, whilst others have not the incli- 

 nation, to study botany, and yet they possess the desire to 

 know the plants they cultivate: to these pictures speak 

 volumes. It is true that the British species have been des- 

 cribed by numerous authors, yet new species have gradually 

 been discovered; but it is not the species that require publicity 

 so much as the varieties of those species; many of them are 

 distinct in character, and so various in form, that the Fern 

 cultivator must include them amongst his choicest gems. So 

 different .are they from the species themselves, that it is in 

 some instances difficult to kno\s^ the parent from which they 

 have sprung. 



There is so much fascination in the study of Ferns, that no 

 one can wonder at the many persons who have either com- 

 menced the cultivation of these plants, or have made the 

 subject a study, and, not having the opportunities of growing 



