INTRODUCTION TO FERN LAND. 



be found in the recesses of its woods ; they hang 

 from rocks and walls and trees, and crowd into 

 the towns and villages, fastening themselves with 

 sweet familiarity even to the houses. 



Devonshire abounds in warm, moist, and shady 

 nooks ; and Ferns delight in warmth, moisture, 

 and shade. Though they love the warmth, they 

 avoid the sun, and when accidentally exposed to 

 its full influence, their delicate fronds become 

 shrivelled and discoloured. Yet these beautiful 

 plants do occasionally coquet with the tiny sun- 

 beam which may perchance find its way through 

 some crevice in their cool rocky home, or through 

 the thick foliage of the hedge-row under whose 

 darkest shade they love to grow. But even the 

 Ferns are changeable in their moods, and fickle in 

 their attachments, differing from one another in 

 their habits and modes of growth. Some members 

 of the lovely family will boldly grow in situations 

 where, perched on rocky corners, away from the 

 cool shelter of overhanging shrubs, they are ex- 

 posed to the full blaze of the sun, and roughly 

 blown upon by the wild force of the wind. Others 

 only seek to bathe the tips of their delicate fronds 



