PERNS. 45 



Our sister, the beautiful Trichomanes speciosum, is far 

 away : that graceful fern which delights in the fissures of 

 damp rocks and walls, or the margin of eddying streams, 

 when, rushing into old stone troughs, they again flow forth, 

 and form for themselves a channel among rough stones. 

 Wild are her haunts, amid the roar of waterfalls, in places 

 where only the most enterprising among botanists would 

 dare to venture. We hear of her as having fixed her 

 abode on a rocky ledge projecting into one of the Kil- 

 larney waterfalls, a place so high and perilous in its 

 approach, as to be gained only by leaping from one stone 

 to another, amid the spray and roar of waters : by climbing 

 also, for he who would adventure to gain the ledge, must 

 ascend by the aid of interlacing roots and branches, till, 

 having reached the platform, he sees the rare and beautiful 

 Trichomanes nestling in her wild haunt, and extending 

 over a contiguous rock; her dark green leaves drooping 

 gracefully, and gemmed with sparkling drops, which often 

 beautifully reflect prismatic colours ; while, on either side, 



