ON FERNS. 525 



It is remarkable also that, to a certain extent, each country 

 appears to produce Ferns forming natural special sections. Thus, 

 for instance, we find that North America supplies us with 

 species mostly of a deciduous character, from the tiny-growing 

 Pellcea Breweri to the gigantic Struthiopteris pennsylvanica, Ono- 

 cka sensibilis, Adiantum pedatum (Fig. 330), various Osmunda, 

 Dicksonia punclilobula, and Woodsia areolata. It is from Japan 

 that, on the contrary, the greatest part of the hardy and semi- 

 hardy evergreen kinds are native. We note among the most 



Fig. 330. — Adiantum pedatum. 



popular species known such general favourites as Cyrtomium 

 falcatum and C. anomophyllum, Lastrea atrata, L. opaca, Poly- 

 stichum setosum, and P. Tsus-Simense, all of which are not only 

 evergreen, but have a peculiarly glossy appearance and leathery 

 texture — characters which are shared by very few of our native 

 Ferns and by scarcely any other exotic kinds. 



Tree-Ferns found in the East and West Indies and South 

 America are, with a few exceptions, conspicuous by their com- 

 paratively slender stems, whereas those, or most of those native 



