144 PLANT-LIFE 



spores) give rise to female prothalli only, while those 

 arising from the smaller (microspores) are invariably 

 male. Plants producing spores of one size only are 

 homosporous (Gr. homos, the same) ; those yielding both 

 mega- and micro-spores are heterosporous (Gr. heteros, 

 other). 



The Pteridophytes embrace the following Classes of 



plants : 



1. Filices — Ferns. 



2. Hydropterides — Water Ferns. 



3. Equisetales — Horsetails. 



4. Lycopodiales^Cluh Mosses. 



The Ferns are of ancient lineage. Their fossil remains 

 indicate that they flourished exceedingly in very remote 

 geological times, and of all the Pteridophytes they are 

 unique in having been most successful in the struggle 

 for existence right through untold ages to the present 

 day. Indeed, it seems that they have thriven, and 

 even increased, like Israel in Egypt, in spite of the 

 " slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." This has 

 not been so with their allies, the Horsetails and Club- 

 Mosses, of which we have but a few existing survivors 

 from a glorious past when they flourished " like the 

 green bay-tree," for some of the extinct species were of 

 majestic proportions. 



With the assistance of some drawings and a few words 

 of explanation, we can readily familiarize ourselves with 

 the salient points in the life-cycle of a Fern. The 

 Common Male Fern {Lastrea Filix^mas) grows in woods, 

 shady places, and moist hedgerows, and is very common 

 in Britain. It is found throughout Europe and Central 

 and Eussian Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic 



