18 Ferns and Fern Culture. 
FRONDS OF FERNS. 
The fronds are what many people call leaves. It is not 
necessary to enter into an explanation of the difference 
between a leaf and a frond, as whichever term is used it 
is understood to refer to the foliage. The fronds in most 
cases have two functions to perform—one the exposure 
to the light of the materials taken up the roots, whereby 
ASPLENIUM VIVIPARUM. 
(Showing bulbils on fronds.) 
it is prepared and fitted for assimilation by the plant, 
and which is afterwards changed into frond, stem, or 
root ; the other is the production of spores, commonly 
called seeds, for the perpetuation of its kind. In addi- 
tion to spores some fronds bear upon their upper surface 
numbers of tiny bulbils, which develop into plants much 
more quickly than sporesdo. Ferns also breathe through 
