THE FEUN PARADISE. 



1. 



THE TUNBRIDGF FILMY F 



Hymenophyllum tunbridqense. 

 PLATE 8, FIG. 1. 



[jHE Tunbridge Filmy Fern so called be- 

 cause it was first noticed in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Tunbridge Wells is a tiny 

 moss-like plant frequently found growing on rocks 

 and boulders in the immediate vicinity of streams of 

 water. The filmy, pellucid texture of the fronds 

 would shrivel up, were the plant exposed to dry, hot 

 air. It can only therefore exist in a constant atmos- 

 phere of moisture, such as is to be found where 

 water is continually present. It delights in the 

 spray of waterfalls, or to be perched on the damp 

 rocks round which the mountain streams rush and 

 roar. In such situations it has a wide distribution 

 throughout the United Kingdom. The fronds grow 

 from little black, wire-like rhizomas, which often 

 become densely interlaced with the mosses which 

 grow on boulder-tops in mid-stream, or wherever 

 perpetual moisture makes moss life predominant. 



400 



