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222 



I'KUN ri.oMA Ol' I'ANADA. 



Tho Parts or Orgn-nH of tho Fern. 



Tin' l''riii |il;mt JM fuiinctl of pirtH nr ( >r^niis tliut an* vrry (lillVntnt, Imtli in 

 iiiiliirf iitid ii|)|ii>aniii)'(^ fioiii the piirls tliiit wi* h('<> in (ndiniiry I'lovvciin^' I'laiils. 

 Ill onlt!' to iiM(l('iMtiiii(l till! <lcMcri|itioi)H of \]n> (liU'crciit spccicH, wit luti'il to know 

 tlic Icriiis Unit art) used to lii'iiotf lln* scvi'iiil iMuts of tin- plant. 'I'lifif arc no 

 pw\n'V jliHn'is on till' Krrn I'lanl, so that \\i\ do n(»t apply tliat tcini, or any of 

 tile tcrm.H used to di'scrilM' tin- paits of IIhwith, to any pait of a ft-rn ; l>iit tin' 

 fi'i'ii lu'iirn a ^rannlar sultstancc, wliicli takr.s tin' place of Howcih and seed, and 

 wordw (or Ht'icntilic tciiiis) arc used to expii'ss its nature and parts, JiiMt us names 

 are ^iven to tin- parts of tlie llower. I<'eriis, to the ordinary olmtrVer, neeni to 

 liuvi) leaves, and these are nsiially j^'reen ai.d Hat and nn»re or less divided, like 

 many true leaves, Imt they are not merely leaves ; they are alsi» the fruit or seed- 

 heaiers, and the Itotaiiist calls them Fronds, 



The Fern Stem or Rhizome. 



A-< to the part that constitutes the true Stem in ferns, sonn; explanation may 

 lie rct|uired, especially hy tho.se who havi; hei-n accustomed to .siic 7'/<'" Fvi-nn of 

 warm and etiuitahle I'liniales free from winter frosts, (such tree ferns may \n\ 

 f^eeii in the conservatories of jmhlic ^'ardens). In the Tree Kern, the stem rises^ 

 erect and tiee-like, into the air, clothed helow with the remnants ur stults of old 

 decayed fronds, these stuhs hein<; tlniinstdves invivsted more m' les.s completely 

 with the llexuous, liard and hlack root lihres, which, orij^'inatiiij^ from the stem 

 itself, arc insinuati'd amoiij^' the old stuhs. From tin; summit of this Htem or 

 trunk of the troo fern, there is a r.idiatiii};, widely-spreatlin^' expanse of (leli(;ately 

 <livided fronds, droopinjj; {^'racpfully towards their tips,- the whole prt^sentin^ a 

 i'trikinj^ ohjeet of heauty. The organ thus developed into an erect stem in tree 

 ferns is called the Cniidrx. 



Anionj^ our native (Canadian ferns we have one imiu'rfecit example of thi.s erect 

 caiuh'X-growth in the lirst fern to l)e descrihed, the Ostrich Plume Kern, a spe(;ies 

 probahly very ancient in origin, hut which still exists in two ap))arently distinct 

 varieties, one confined to Kuropi', the other to America. While tin* Ostrich 

 l*lume Kern has an erect bulb-like corm, producing from its apex a circle of mag- 

 uihcent, erect, plume-like fronds, thus .simulating the tree fern, (the European 



