FERNS 253 



plant and lines on another, and as some species have lines 

 along the frond edges, others along their middles, and others 

 in slanting stripes, while others have round heaps or dots, some 

 with little covers over them and some without, it is easy to 

 see that, knowing what sort of an arrangement a " species " 

 has, we can now go a step further and not only say 

 " this is a Fern," but also " this a Fern of such and such 

 a family." The Ferns of the world generally consist of a 

 large number of families or genera (plural of genus or kind), 

 and these families are split up into a far greater number of 

 species or members of the family, which, like members of a 

 human family, are very different to each other. Each genus 

 or family has its special way of bearing the spores, and no 

 matter how different its members or species may appear they 

 will all, as we have said, carry their spores in a similar way. 

 Finally, there is often great variety of form among the plants 

 of the same species, so that Ferns are really classed under 

 three heads genera or families, species or members of 

 families, and varieties or forms of species. Thus, as there 

 are many genera, many species of each genus, and some- 

 times many varieties of a species, it is clear that there must 

 be thousands of different forms of Ferns taking them alto- 

 gether. This being so we will first deal only with such 

 Ferns as are to be found in Great Britain, and most of which 

 we may come across in our country walks, especially in our 

 western counties, Devon, Dorset, Cornwall, &c., but in point 

 of fact they exist all over the country where there is plenty 

 of shade and moisture, and people are sensible enough not 

 to pull them up because they are pretty, as is too often 

 done. 



Curious Forms of Ferns. In Great Britain we have only 

 eighteen genera and forty-five species, but, strangely enough, 

 so many curious forms have been found growing wild among 

 the common ones that certainly two thousand varieties exist 

 and probably many more. Many of these varieties are far 

 more beautiful than the common ones, some bearing beauti- 

 ful tassels at all their tips, some prettily frilled, some con- 

 densed or dwarfed, and some so finely cut as to appear like 

 lovely feathers. Most of us know the pretty Hart's-tongue, 

 with its long, shining, green, strap-like fronds, sometimes 

 growing big in the hedge, and sometimes starring an old 

 wall with small plants. This one Fern has " sported," as it 

 is called, into several hundred different fashions, some like 

 little balls of moss, and some like yard high curly frills, some 

 with cups and pockets at the tips, some branched and tasselled, 

 and some again with the usually smooth green surface ridged 



