180 THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN. 
shady woodland at any time of 
year might decide us in favour 
of some wood fern. But the 
matter can not be regarded as 
decided until the claims of the 
lady fern (Athyrium filix-fem- 
ina) have been considered. 
While it may not be the most 
range of habitat from deep woodlands to 
open swamps, stony pastures and dusty 
roadsides gives it a larger representation 
than one would at first imagine. In any 
event it is always common enough to be 
found by the young collector and attrac- 
tive enough to be worth the finding. 
Although a pretty and decorative species, 
the lady fern seems scarcely to deserve all that 
the poets have said of it. It is barely possible 
that much of this praise is due to the fact that 
the poet seldom feels sure of his species, owing 
to a defect in his botanical education, and so 
the few he does know come in for all the 
credit. Scott’s four lines. 
“Where the copse-wood is the greenest, 
Where the fountain glistens sheenest, 
Where the mountain dew lies longest, 
There the lady fern is strongest.” 
have been quoted in every fern book since they 
were written, which must be our excuse for in- 
cluding them. 
Less familiar are the fairly descriptive lines 
by Edwin Lees of which three stanzas are 
here given. 
LADY FERN 
Athyrium filix-/amina. 
