THE 1'EEN PARADISE. 



or absent from the backs of fronds without 

 necessitating any change in their form. But it 

 sometimes happens that the edges of the frond 

 are turned back in order to form the spore-case 

 covers, which in most of the species are a separate 

 formation. This turning back of the frond edges 

 narrows and gives a different appearance to the 

 leaflets so turned back. But there is this further 

 distinction between the barren and fertile fronds 

 in the Hard Fern and in the Parsley Fern : in 

 both cases the fertile fronds are much longer 

 than the barren ones. 



The green smooth stem of the Parsley Fern 

 is somewhat longer than the leafy portion of the 

 frond. The shape of the latter is triangular. On 

 each side of the rachis are branches placed opposite 

 or in alternation, and on these are the irregular, 

 serrated leaflets which, from their crisped ap- 

 pearance, bear, as we have stated, a striking 

 resemblance to parsley. The contraction of the 

 seed-bearing leaflets on the taller fertile fronds 

 gives to them an oval rounded appearance. The 

 roots of the Parsley Fern are thick and matted, 

 and from its crown the fronds grow in dense 



266 



