44 FERNS : BEITISH AND FOREIGN. 



II. ORGANOGRAPHY. 



FOR the purpose of rendering the technical descrip- 

 tions occurring in the following pages intelligible 

 to those not well acquainted with botany, I have thought 

 it necessary to devote a preliminary chapter to organo- 

 graphy, being the explanation of the various terms 

 in common use among pteridologists. I adopt this 

 course in preference to giving an ordinary glossary, 

 because I think a better idea of the structure of the 

 plants, and the relation of one organ to another, and 

 of the relation of the terms to the organs themselves, 

 may be conveyed by it ; but for convenience of refer- 

 ence I append an alphabetical list of the terms, paged 

 so that they can be easily found in the explanatory 

 chapter. In the generic characters I have endeavoured 

 to avoid needless technicalities, though I have not 

 attempted to frame them in what is commonly called 

 a " popular " style, and I hope that with the aid of 

 the following explanations, persons of ordinary 

 abilities who have not made botany their study, will 

 be able to understand them. In many cases, espe- 

 cially in describing the form and shape of the fronds, 

 the same terms are employed as in flowering plants ; 

 but as now and then they have special significations, 

 I have briefly explained all that occur in this work. 



Ferns (Filices) are flowerless plants, and form the highest order 

 of the division of the vegetable kingdom termed Cryptogamia. 

 Their most evident organs consist of the stem and the leaves, the 



