BRITISH FERNS. 5 
thus detached the frond, remains still in the soil, 
elongating in a horizontal direction at the depth of 
from three to four inches, sometimes simple and some- 
times branched, but always furnished with lateral 
fibres. 
" The trunk of Ferns if trunk ' it can be called 
which trunk is none' is a stipe supporting the frond ; 
or rather the whole of the herbage is a frond, that is, 
an incorporation of stipe (or stem), leaf, and fructifica- 
tion. If the stipe of a Fern is cut open, it will be 
found to consist of a firm pulp, or pith, interspersed 
with bundles of longitudinal fibres of a dusty brown 
colour, assuming an arrangement proper to the species. 
On a transverse section of the stipe of Pteris aquilina 
(Common Brake), taken a little above the surface of the 
soil, the divided extremities of the bundles exhibit a 
slight resemblance to an oak-tree in full leaf. This has 
been noticed even by the peasantry of the country, 
among whom it is known by the name of ' King 
Charles's Oak.' But if the section is taken in a slanting 
direction, then the resemblance exhibited is that of the 
Eagle of the Koman standard; whence we have the 
specific name, aquilina. 
" It was for a long time believed that Ferns are 
destitute of seeds, and propagated nobody knows how. 
Yet no botanist of the present day doubts the reality of 
Fern-seed, or, at the least, of sporules from which new 
plants spring. Some have even fancied that they had 
detected the parts of the antecedent flower. But ad- 
mitting that such detection is impracticable, the botanist 
