STUDIES IN FERN LIFE 27 



attention. Of these the Bracken, the hand- 

 some Royal Fern, and the very common Male 

 Fern are good examples. In some parts of the 

 world, as we have already seen, ferns grow into 

 tall trees with woody trunks. 



Even though the group is such a large 

 one, it would seem that the fern tribe have 

 failed to maintain their former standing in the 

 world. This appears to be due to an extent 

 to their apparent inability to adapt them- 

 selves to changing conditions. By far the 

 greater number of ferns cannot live save in 

 very moist conditions, atmospheric and other- 

 wise ; as we have seen, they throve to perfection 

 in the saturated atmosphere of the Carbonif- 

 erous Period and formed a dominating race of 

 the pecuhar vegetation of the time. Nowa- 

 days there are few parts of the world where 

 ferns occupy such a position in the plant hfe of 

 the country, save, perhaps, in New Zealand, and 

 some islands in the southern seas. Curiously 

 enough, almost the only ferns which are very 

 general in the world at the present time are the 

 few kinds which are not so dependent upon moist 

 conditions. Of this there is no better example 

 than the Bracken Fern, which occurs in Europe, 



