THE FERN PARADISE. 



For some little distance the stream runs by the 

 side of the road we are following, until, when 

 the latter takes a sudden turn to the right, it 

 disappears under a stone bridge, re-appearing 

 for a brief space and then being finally lost as it 

 flows away across some meadows. Peer over the 

 side of the bridge and you will find little tufts 

 of .that beautiful Fern, the Common Maidenhair 

 Spleenwort; also the tiny Wall Rue, and small 

 specimens of the Hartstongue. You will rarely 

 find a Devonshire bridge, unless it be quite a new 

 structure, without its complement of Ferns the 

 rock, or stone-and-mortar-loving species. Whether 

 it be a river bridge, or a tiny arch that crosses a 

 brook, its sides are almost certain to possess at 

 least one kind, often many, of the moisture-loving 

 plants. It is the moist atmosphere produced by 

 the flowing water underneath which gives en- 

 couragement to the Ferns. Sometimes a river 

 arch is densely covered with many varieties of 

 these plants. You will often find the Common 

 Polypody, the Hartstongue, the Wall Rue, the 

 Scaly Spleenwort, the Common Maidenhair 

 Spleenwort, and the Black Maidenhair Spleen- 



102 



