20 The Ferx Lover's Compaxion 



as in some cloak ferns — thus keepini^' a layer of moist air 

 next to the surface of the leaf, and checking transpiration. 



Some of the rock-loA-ing ferns in dry ))laees are known 

 as "resurrection" ferns, reviving after their leaves have 

 tiu-ned sere and lirown. A touch of rain, and lo! they are 

 green and flourishing. 



Ferns \ary in height from the diminutive filmy fern of 

 less than an inch to the vast ti'ee ferns of the tropics, 

 reaching a height of sixty feet or more. 



REPR()I)r<'TII)X 



Ferns are i)ro])agated in \'arious ways. A frequent 

 method is liy ]ierennial rootstocks, which often creep 

 l)eneath the surface, sending u]), it may he, single fronds, 

 as in the conunon hracken, or graceful leaf-crowns, as in 

 the cinnamon fern. The bladder fern is ])ropagated in 

 I)art from its buUilets, while the walking leaf bends over 

 to the earlli and roots at the ti]). 



Ferns are also reproduced by .s])ores, a ])r6cess mys- 

 terious and marvellous as a fairy tale. Instead of .seeds 

 the fern ])ro(luces sjjores, which are little one-celled bodies 

 without an emliryo and may be likened to l.iuds. A sj)ore 

 falls upon damp soil and germinates, ])roducing a small, 

 green, shield-shaj)ed |iatch nnich smaller than a dime, 

 which is called a ])rothalliuin (or ])rothallus). On its under 

 surface delicate root hairs grow to give it stability and 

 mitriment; also two sorts of rejjroductive organs known 

 as antheridia and archegonia, the male and female growths 

 analogous to the stamens and pistils in flowers. From the 

 former sjjring small, active, .spiral bodies called anther- 

 ozoids. which lash about in the moi.sture of the prothallium 

 until thev find the archegonia, the cells of which are so 



