22 
GAMBLES IN SEARCH OF FERNS. 
A). I claimed Esther’s attention. “ Here, you see, is a member of 
the third group of the second order of ferns. The seed masses being 
covered and placed on the back of the frond, prove it to belong to the 
Aspidiacese, and the covers being kidney-shaped proves it a Lastrsea. 
This is the commonest of the Shield ferns.” 
Esther was greatly interested ; she plunged into the thicket, and 
brought out a handful of the very fern that my heart was longing for. 
“This is the most graceful fern we have, according to my fancy,” 
she said. “ The hue of its foliage is most beautiful in spring, and even 
now its freshness is charming!* Give me your glass. Yes ; you see 
the covers are kidney-shaped.” 
“ They are certainly so ; I am satisfied that, this is a Lastisea. 
You observe that there are branches, with side branches and leaflets ; 
this form of arrangement is called tri-pinnate. The frond is triangular 
in form, but this characteristic is not reliable. The notched seed- 
covers show it to be the Spreading Shield fern (Las trim dilatata , 
Fig. 2), and my book says it grows in every variety of form, from the 
lance to the triangular shape.” By a little gate we passed from the 
steep wood to a yet steeper pasture ; but, as from time to time we 
paused for breath, the view that we turned to gaze upon became more 
and more beautiful. The pretty wood at our feet — my wood — with 
here and there a glimpse of its noisy stream, the sloping lawn around 
my cousin’s house, and the wild rocks and woods topped by purple 
moors above it — all this lay right before us ; while, to the left, bounded 
by hills grayer and yet more gray, stretched the wide valley of the 
Swale. 
Emerging on the moor, the air seemed laden with the sweet 
perfume of the ling. The rich purple was varied by patches of 
verdant green ; and, upon approaching one of this oases, I found two 
ferns decidedly different from those which I had hitherto become 
familiar with. One bore a great resemblance to the Spreading Shield 
fern, its covers being of the same shape, but with plain edges; its 
leaflets were broader and curled in, and its form was narrower. It 
