FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. ^l 



the tallest trees in the forest, clothe them with a network of lace-like 

 foliage. 



In the island of Jamaica and similar localities, many ferns are 

 epiphytal, attaching themselves to the surface or bark of the trunk and 

 branches of forest trees, covering them with a mantle of living green. 

 The most curious of all is the floating fern (Ceratopteris thalictrioidcs) , 

 which requires no soil, no anchorage, but simply floats upon the sur- 

 face of streams and quiet pools in southern Florida and other tropical 

 countries. It is singular in another respect, being one of the very few 

 ferns that are annuals; the others are Gymnogramme chaerophylla and 

 G. leptophylla. 



The nobility and stateliness of the fern family culminates in the 

 tree fern, whose magnificent crowns are reared aloft on their straight, 

 slender stems, which, being of a fibrous character and easily penetrated 

 by the roots of other plants, become the homes of many delicate species 

 of the smaller ferns, selaginellas, orchids, etc. 



In fact, there is scarcely a place from which ferns are entirely 

 excluded. In the far north, and on lofty mountains above the limit 

 of forests, the delicate Cystopteris, the firmer Polypodiums, and Aspid- 

 iums peep from the rocks, or wave over alpine rivulets. 



The woods, ravines, and rock dells of our eastern states are full of 

 their beautiful forms. From the rocks hang graceful Adiantums, 

 Cheilanthes, and Aspleniums; while along the water courses and shady 

 ravines are multitudes of Adiantums, Pteris, Woodwardias. Campto- 

 sorus, Osmundas, Onocleas, and Aspleniums. 



On the Pacific Coast, especially in southern California, many of the 

 species and some of the genera common to other portions of North 

 America are absent, as our well-defined dry season does not suit the 

 moisture-loving species which grow in such luxuriance in more humid 

 regions. The larger number of species of Cheilanthes, Pella?as, and 

 Notholgenas, several of which extend through Mexico, and some to 

 South America, are perhaps more interesting to the fern-lover than are 

 the coarser and more rampant-growing ferns of more northern regions. 



THE PACIFIC COAST. 



The remarkable extent of the coast line of the United States on the 

 Pacific, extending as it does from latitude 32i degrees to 72 degrees 

 north, and between longitude 40 degrees and 187 degrees west from 

 Washington, including all the coast from the semitropic region of 

 northern Mexico to the extreme northern limit of Alaska, gives us a 

 range of extremely varied climatic conditions, and numerous zones of 

 animal and vegetable life, in consequence of which, our fern flora 

 partakes of the characteristics of many widely separated regions. 



