THE FERN PARADISE. 



9. 



THE BRISTLE FERN. 



Trichomanes radicans. 



PLATE 1, FIG. 8. 



[jOWN on yon dripping rock, where, from 

 the perpetual spray flung by the ever- 

 roaring waterfall above, an eternal 

 moisture reigns ; where the arid winds of winter 

 and the dry scorching heat of summer can never 

 change the pervading dampness, which continues 

 with unceasing persistence, grows the Bristle 

 Fern ! An eternal moisture is the vital principle 

 of its existence. Not its roots merely, but crown, 

 stem, and frond must be surrounded conti- 

 nuously, unceasingly, by moist vapours. Unlike 

 the hardy Ferns, which will look fresh and green 

 in the sunshine, or when exposed to the play of 

 the dry summer breezes, if their roots can drink 

 in some moisture from wall, rock, or hedge-bank, 

 the Bristle Fern shrivels up, through its exqusite 

 sensitiveness, before the slightest drought. 



268 



