E v rope an Ferns. 
i 7 6 
whose knowledge and practical work has only lately been recognised by the appreciation shown 
to some of their leading representatives. We soon found that our friend was fully acquainted 
with the flora and fauna of his neighbourhood — often, 
indeed, he was ignorant of the names of the plants, 
although thoroughly conversant with the plants them- 
selves ; but the Flowering Fern he knew, and where to 
find it. And so it was that one day we were privileged 
to be guided to a corner — by no means a remote one — 
of the wood, and there, near some shallow stagnant 
water, the tall fronds of Osmunda rose majestically 
above the surrounding shrubs, standing straight up 
some five or six feet, and forming a group worthy of 
Second Year. Th ' rcl Year - 
YOUNG PLANTS OF FLOWERING FERN. 
an artist’s pencil. There were not many specimens, but those that there were were singularly 
fine ones ; and, although we have since so often seen the Royal Fern in abundance, we 
have never seen it to such advantage as in this quiet corner of a Buckinghamshire wood. 
Mr. Newman speaks of the impression which the Flowering Fern, fringing the river between 
the lakes at Killarney, made upon the great Scottish novelist. “ One of the boatmen employed 
by Sir Walter Scott,” he says, “ on the occasion of his visit to Killarney, told me that Sir 
Walter scarcely uttered a syllabic in praise of the scenery until he came to this spot ; and 
here he stopped the rowers, and exclaimed, ‘ This is worth coming to see!’ Ihe boatman 
