APPENDIX T. 



THE LIFE HISTOEY OF A FEEN. 



The Pern Family. The life history of a Fern differs 

 considerably from that of a Flowering Plant. The highest 

 order of plants, including what are usually called Phanero- 

 gams, or Flowering Plants, is divided into two groups, the 

 G-ymnosperms and the Angiosperms (see Art. 295). We 

 have in the body of this book dealt almost exclusively with 

 the Angiosperms, though the Pine, which is a G-ymnosperm, 

 has been partly described ; further details of the Pine and 

 its life history are given further on. 



The Ferns belong to the group often called the Cryptogams, 

 or Flowerless Plants. But the Ferns differ from all other 

 Cryptogams seaweeds, fungi, lichens, mosses in having 

 vascular tissue (wood vessels and sieve- tubes), hence they are 

 placed in a higher group than these plants, the group known 

 as Vascular Cryptogams and including the horsetails and 

 clubmosses as well as the ferns. 



Most ferns grow in moist and shaded places, but several 

 kinds are adapted for life in dry and exposed habitats. Two 

 of the most familiar British ferns are the Male Fern of the 

 woods and hedgerows, and the Bracken of the open hills and 

 commons. Since one or other of these ferns can be obtained 

 for study very readily, we shall take them as types of the 

 Fern Family. 



The Male Pern is easily distinguished from other wood- 

 land ferns by its sturdy and robust growth, its massive 

 rhizome, its rosette of large compound leaves, and the 

 kidney- shaped scales dotted about on the lower surface of 

 the leaf. 



Pull up a plant in summer, wash its roots free from the 

 soil, and study its external characters. The Male Fern is 

 very readily transplanted into a garden, and observations 

 should be made upon it at different times of the year. 



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