A PEEK BOOK FOR EVEEYBODX. 



MAESH FEEN * 



The root-stock of this 

 fern is creeping, a fea- 

 ture by which it may be 

 distinguished from the 

 Mountain Pern, which 

 is most closely allied to 

 it. The fronds are scat-= 

 tered, and not produced 

 in dense tufts, those 

 which are barren being 

 the smallest, and from 8 

 inches to a foot high, 

 when very vigorous at- 

 taining to 18 inches or 

 2 feet. The outline of the 

 frond is spear-shaped, 

 with a long foot-stalk, in 

 colour of a delicate yel- 

 lowish green. The leaf- 

 lets are compound, long, 

 and narrow, and arrang- 

 ed in a feathery manner ; 

 throughout their whole 

 length they are cut near- 

 ly to the mid-rib into 

 long narrow lobes. The 

 leafy portion of the frond 

 is scarcely so long as the 

 lower and naked portion 

 of the leaf-stalk. The 

 fertile fronds are larger, 

 attaining from 18 inches 

 to 3 feet ; they appear to 

 be more taper, and the 

 leaflets narrower, from 



*Lastrea tJielypteris, Pkesl. 



