A PARADISE OF FEKNS. 



piled upon it a rich mass of pure vegetable mould, 

 in which the Ferns delight to grow. 



In this same spot, and growing side by side 

 with the Hartstongue and Male Fern, are to be 

 found specimens of two other of the large-growing 

 species of the British Ferns the Broad Buckler 

 Fern (Lastrea dilatata), and the Soft Prickly 

 Shield Fern (Polysticlmm angular e). Both, when 

 finely grown, are most splendid objects. The 

 former is one of the most handsome of our native 

 Ferns, its broad arching fronds sweeping upwards 

 and outwards with exquisite grace, and sometimes 

 attaining like the Male Fern, to which it is closely 

 allied, a height of four or five feet. The chief 

 characteristic of the Soft Prickly Shield Fern is 

 the minute and beautiful manner in which its 

 fronds are divided into small, angular- shaped, saw- 

 edged leaflets. It is often densely clothed with 

 rich brown scales, which contrast finely with the 

 dark, deep green of its fronds. 



Turning now away from the dark shelter of 

 overhanging trees, the pathway, wending upwards 

 still, passes between high hedges, whose dark and 

 tangled vegetation almost meets overhead. Here, 



