II 
European Ferns. 
ferns we shall see presently to be merely cases in which the fructification is restricted to the upper 
portion of a few of the fronds, and so crowded together over the surface as to conceal it. The 
immense number of cryptogamic plants is further divided into two great groups, founded upon 
the degree of complexity of their organisation. In the lower of these — called Thallophytes, or 
TREE-FERNS. 
■ SMBife a 
mmmm 
Cellular Cryptogams — there is no separation of the vegetative organs into stem, root, and leaves, 
but the plant consists of a cellular structure ( thallus ) of homogeneous character. Fungi, Seaweeds, 
and Lichens, are examples of these Thallophytes. The higher group, on the contrary, has a 
differentiation of stem and leaf in nearly all cases, and the plants contained in it are called 
Cormophytes, or Vascular Cryptogams. The Mosses are the humblest of these Vascular 
