]0 iiiSTorvY OF BraTisii perns. 



which the daisy-heads and the dandelions were plucked to 

 be made into floral chains, and those which yielded the 

 buttercups, the roses, and various other kinds for the rural 

 garland, produced, besides their flowers — those brilliantly- 

 coloured parts which the tiny fingers chiefly desired to 

 gather — other parts, mostly green, in which the same 

 intuitive perception already mentioned had learned to re- 

 cognize the leaves. These two kinds of "organs," as they 

 are called — the leaves and the flowers — are the parts of 

 the plant most apparent in the majority of cases. 



Popularly speaking, then, a Fern may be said to be a 

 plant which bears leaves only, and no flowers ; and these 

 leaves are greatly varied, and very elegant in form. But 

 some will say, How can we tell a Fern, which never bears 

 flowers, from some other plant which does bear flowers, but 

 from which they are temporarily absent ? This seeming, 

 and to the beginner real, difficulty, is to be overcome by a 

 little patience and attentive study. Nothing worth acquir- 

 ing is to be gained without these. Search must be made 

 for what seems to be a full-grown plant ; the under surface 

 of its leaves must be examined, and brown, dust-like 

 patches, round or elongated, or in lines, will be found placed 

 here and there, and generally arranged with much regu- 



