NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION IN PREPARATION. 



THE FERN WORLD. 



BY FRANCIS GEORGE HEATH, 



AUTHOR OF " OUR WOODLAND TREES," "THE FHRN PARADISE," "THE ENGLISH 

 PEASANTRY," "THE 'ROMANCE 'OF PEASANT LIFE," &c., &c. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



'THE FERN WORLD" ts Illustrated by Twelve Coloured Plates giving complete 

 figures (sixty-four in all) of .every species of British Fern, specially printed from 

 Nature, and executed in the best style of Chromo- Lithography ; by several Full-page 

 Rngravings of some of the choicest of Devonshire Scenery ; by a Permanent Photo- 

 graphic Frontispiece ; and by Woodcuts. 



CONTENTS. 

 PART I. 



The Fern "World. Introduction The Germs of Fern Life Conditions of Growth- 

 Structure Classification Distribution Uses The Folk-lore of Ferns. 



PART II. 



Fern Culture. Introduction Soil and Aspect General Treatment Propagation A 

 Fern Valley Subterranean Fern Culture A Fern Garden Fern Rockery A Fern 

 House Pot Culture of Ferns Ferns at Home. 



PART III. 



Fem Hunting. Introduction Fern Holidays Fem Collecting Frond Gathering. 



PART IV. 



Some Rambles through Fernland. Introduction Down a Combe to the Sea 

 The Valleys of the Lyn The Valley of the Rocks Clovelly- Sea and Sky, and Waving 

 green Torbay The South-east Coast of Devon The Home of the Sea Fern. 



PART V. 



British Ferns : their Description, Distribution, and Culture.- Introduction 

 The Bracken The Hartstongue The Lady Fern--The Hard Fern The Royal Fern 

 The True Maidenhair The Annual Maidenhair The Mountain Parsley Fern The 

 Bristle Fern The Moonwort Tne Adders-tongue The Little Adders-tongue The 

 Common Polypody The Mountain Polypody The Three-branched Polypody The 

 Limestone Polypody The Alpine Polypody The Hard Prickly Shield Fern The Soft 

 Prickly Shield Fern The Holly Fern - The Brittle Bladder Fern The Alpine Bladder 

 Fern The Mountain Bladder Fern -The Oblong Woodsia The Alpine Woodsia- The 

 Male Fern The Broad Buckler Fern The Hay-scented Buckler Fern -The Rigid 

 Buckler Fern The Crested Buckler Fern The Prickly-toothed Buckler Fern -The 

 Mountain Buckler Fern The Marsh Buckler Fern The Forked Spleenwort The 

 Alternate Spleenwort The Rue-leaved Spleenwort The Black Maidenhair Spleenwort 

 The Lanceolate Spleenwort The Rock Spleenwort The Green Spleenwort The 

 Common Maidenhair Spleenwort The Sea Spleenwort The Scaly Spleenwort The 

 Tunbridge Filmy Fern -The One sided Filmy Fern. 



SOME PRESS OPINIONS OF "THE FERN WORLD." 



A thenceum. 



" Mr. Heath has really given us good, well-written descriptions of our native ferns, with 

 indications of their habitats, the conditions under which they grow naturally, and under which 

 they may be cultivated." 



LONDON : 

 THE COUNTRY PRESS, 19, BALL STREET, KENSINGTON, W. 



X. 



