CHAPTER YI. 
THE LADY 
FE Rfi 
Stk. Asplenium Filix-foemina). 
(Athyrium Filix-fcemina. 
E now come to a species wMcli, besides being 
very beautiful in its normal state, is so subject 
to variation tbat possibly none exceed it in tbe 
number of forms to wMcb it bas given rise, 
both under natural conditions and artificial cul- 
ture. Tbe fronds are large, and of spear-sbaped 
outline. Tbey are three or even four times 
divided, and spring shuttlecock fashion from a 
central crown. The spore-heaps resemble some- 
what those of the Aspleniums, but are curved like a sickle, 
and imperfectly covered. In some varieties, such as the 
plumose, which in this family are usually more or less fertile, 
there is no cover at all. This is also the case in A. F.-f. alpestre, 
which on that account is classed amongst the Polypodies, 
from which, however, it differs in all other respects, resembling 
a Lady Fern exactly, with which, therefore, we take the liberty of 
classing it, especially since, as we have seen, there are acknow- 
ledged forms of Lady Fern with the same peculiarity precisely. 
This lovely Fern delights in moist, sheltered, shady nooks, 
and likes, as it were, to stand on the bank and bathe its feet 
in the stream. When its tastes are fully consulted, it grows 
to a large size, between 3ft. and 4ft. high, sending up a 
multitude of huge, feathery fronds of, we should have said, 
the utmost delicacy, had we not in our mind’s eye the sur- 
passingly delicate forms of some of the varieties. 
