CHAPTER XXVI 

 flowerless plants 



Ferns, Mosses, Liverworts and Lichens, Alg^, 

 Mushrooms 



Elementary studies of plants commonly include only 

 those that bear flowers and produce seeds. The impor- 

 tance attaching of late years to many of the lower forms, 

 together with their educational values, renders it advisable 

 to include their study in a course that pretends to give 

 adequate elementary instruction in the natural environment 

 of a community. 



Ferns. — These form a natural introduction to this group 

 of plants. Gray's Botany gives sixty-two species native 

 to the United States. How many different kinds can 

 the pupils find in their neighborhood .-' A bed or rockery 

 of ferns will make a beautiful nook in the school garden. 

 Have the children notice and describe the places where 

 they grow best ; then select the most favorable spot for 

 the bed, generally a corner on the shady side of the school 

 building. If the soil is not suitable, have a load of black 

 leaf mould from the woods put on the bed and arrange 

 naturally a few moss- and lichen-covered rocks to give the 

 ferns their appropriate setting. Since the ferns are all hardy 

 perennials, a bed once planted will continue with little care 

 from year to year and yield good material for drawing and 



435 



