WINTER FERN-HUNTING 



near passing it by for that Then, be- 

 cause I had never seen this fern growing 

 in a dapple of sunlight, I went to it and 

 found that I had chanced upon a group 

 of the spinulose wood fern. The plu- 

 mose fronds* showed no more winter 

 effects than did those of the Christmas 

 ferns. The keen frosts had not shriv- 

 elled them, nor was there any hint of the 

 brown that might come with the ripening 

 of leaves or the departure of sap. 



Like the other ferns they had suffered 

 a failing of tissues near the base of the 

 stipe, but pinnules, midribs and rachis 

 were as softly, radiantly green as they 

 had been under the full warmth of the 

 summer sun. Owing to this failure of 

 tissues in the stipe they lay flat to the 

 ground, but they were still beautiful, per- 

 haps more so than they had been when 

 they stood more erect in summer, and 

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