DECIDUOUS BRITISH FERNS 



Ferns which are natives of cold and temperate climates, 

 in which the conditions of the winter are so rigorous that 

 the frondage is practically destroyed, have developed in 

 large measure the same deciduous or leaf-shedding char- 

 acter as is possessed by the majority of trees. Compara- 

 tively few, however, have developed the same capacity of 

 throwing off their fronds at a basal joint, and among our 

 native Ferns only one, Polypodium vulgare, or the com- 

 mon Polypody, has this faculty, which, moreover, does 

 not show itself at the usual leaf-shedding season, the au- 

 tumn, but only in the spring, when the new fronds are 

 rising to replace the old, and consequently monopolize 

 the root action. In the other species, which are decidu- 

 ous, the fronds in October or November, or even earlier 

 in some cases, commence without any obvious reason to 

 lose their fresh green tints and become first yellow and 

 finally brown, shrivelling eventually to feather-weight 

 debris, owing to the retraction of their sap and any con- 

 tained nourishment into the crown or root-stock. To many 

 people who do not understand this provision of Nature 

 for a thorough rest, the change is imputed to bad health, 

 and the final disappearance or death of the fronds is 

 thought to mean the death of the fern, the result being 

 subsequent neglect, which makes worse the error. It has 

 so frequently happened in our own experience, especially 

 with lady friends to whom we have given some of our 

 seedlings, that their subsequent loss has been owing to a 

 mysterious disease in the autumn, though every care was 

 taken, that we deem a word of warning not to be out of 

 place in this connection at this season. Losses occur, 

 however, even with those who understand this phenome- 

 non, for where ferns are grown in pots in conservatories 

 the absence of any obvious plant for some months is all 

 too apt to lead to those pots being placed out of sight in 



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