CHAPTER VII. 
FERNS AND FERN ALLIES. 
By 
T. J. IVEY, M.A., 
Science Master, Harbord Collegiate Institute. 
Ow1ne to the sandy or heavy nature of the soil 
in and about Toronto, and the comparatively dry 
atmosphere, the representatives of this group of 
plants are not numerous, and the individual species, 
on the whole, are rather medium-sized. In certain 
localities throughout the province, however, where 
conditions of soil and moisture are suitable, mag- 
nificent specimens are often found. In the northern 
part of the province specimens of the Bracken fern, 
for example, have been found to attain 2 height of 
six or seven feet, and in one locality in the eastern 
part of the province the Boulder fern, where protected 
by a shaded limestone cliff, has been observed to pro- 
duce fronds five feet in length; the average size for 
both these being perhaps about two to three feet. 
There are many localities, too, throughout the pro- 
vince where typical rock-loving ferns are numerous, 
such as at Niagara and Credit Forks, where the rocks 
are chiefly caleareous. Here occur such species as 
Purple Pellaea, Narrow-leaved Spleenwort, Maiden- 
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