THE FERN PARADISE. 



1. 



THE HARD PRICKLY SHIELD FERN. 



Polystichuin aculeatum. 



PLATE 3, Fia. 1. 



JHE Hard, or Common Prickly Shield 

 Fern, is one of the largest and most 

 robust of our native Ferns, oftentimes 

 reaching a height of three or four feet. Ever- 

 green in character, its fronds survive the frosts of 

 winter. It has a big root- stock, from the under 

 surface of which proceeds a dense mass of long, 

 tough, fibrous roots. From its vigorous tufted 

 crown this beautiful Fern sends up a circle of 

 fronds, which grow in shuttlecock fashion, their 

 tips gracefully bending outwards. The stem or 

 stipes of the Hard Prickly Shield Fern is some- 

 what short, but stiff and rigid, and covered with 

 scales. The general outline of the frond is lance- 

 shaped; broadest in the centre, tapering some- 

 what towards the base, and tapering upwards to 

 the apex. It is divided into narrow tapering 



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