FERNS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 33 



tinted by its green fronds; that it tempts even those 

 who are not Wotanists to gather it. Southey, who 

 describes it as the Stone Fir or Mountain Parsley, says 

 it is the " most beautiful of all our wild plants, resem- 

 bling the richest point-lace in its fine filaments and 

 exquisite indentations." We have sometimes, while look- 

 ing at it, recalled the words of Milton : 



" For not to use alone did Providence 

 Abound, but large example gave to man 

 Of grace, and ornament, and splendour rich, 

 Suited abundantly to every taste, 

 In bird, beast, fish, winged and creeping thing. 

 In herb and flower." 



Graceful it is, and delightful to the eye of the lover of 

 nature ; though neither singing bird, nor brightly tinted 

 insect, nor useful cattle, can find nourishment in its 

 luxuriance. 



The favourite place of growth of the Rock Parsley is 

 among the rugged masses of stones and broken rocks 

 which lie at the base or on the slopes of mountains, in 

 the north of England. We look for it in vain in the 

 southern counties ; but it often occurs in Wales. At 

 first sight its crisped sprays might be taken for a tuft 

 of the leaves of Common Parsley, and it is as bright and 

 green as that herb in early summer. Here and there 

 some patches of the plant gather in abundance and 

 beauty on the slate mountains of Cumberland, relieving 

 their dark tint by the verdant fronds; and many an 

 enthusiastic botanist, who has visited the slate and trap 

 rocks of Snowdon, has haUed this lovely fern with 

 rapture, as he beheld it covering their rugged surfaces 

 in wild profusion. 



