16 
RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF FERNS. 
it was a distinct species, and I fully agreed with it. Many high 
authorities consider it merely as a variety of the common Polystichum. 
Returning by the fernery, I ventured to take a frond of the Holly 
fern, which Esther had told me she had brought from Llanberis. In 
this there were no branches, and the leaflets were large, crescent- 
shaped, and beset with sharp points. It grows handsomely and 
hardily in Alpine situations, and being truly evergreen it is well 
named Holly fern ( Polystichum lonchitis , Fig. 4). But, hardy as 
this plant is, in its natural habitat, it is difficult to accommodate in 
ferneries ; it generally dwindles, and often dies. As I stood looking 
at it, half-grown and ill at ease as it seemed, my mind was carried 
back to a beautiful Alpine wood near the Gemmi Pass, where it 
grew in richest luxuriance. There the fronds were above a foot high, 
springing in the coronal shape, and forming verdant little baskets 
among the delicious variety of Alpine plants ; while snow-capped 
mountains rose on every side, and a glacier-born torrent rolled down 
the steep descent, laving the little fern roots as it passed in its mad 
career. Here and there a vast assemblage of tree roots only bore 
testimony to an avalanche having swept over the spot, and carried 
away the thousand mighty trunks, as the scythe would clear off a 
curve of grass upon the lawn. 
Esther surprised me while I was dreaming over the fernery. 
“ You have been out without leave,” she said, “ and very shabby 
it was in you to go and get those big ferns without your pupil. 
Pray, do they come next the Polypodiaceie in the book, or have you 
taken them by chance ? ” 
“ The Woodsias come next to the Polypodiacese,” I replied, 
“ forming the first family of the great Aspidiacese group, but they 
are very scarce, and I fear I shall have difficulty in getting them ; so 
I passed on to the Polystichums, which arc the second family in the 
same group.” 
“ I have a plant of the Alpine Woodsia,” rejoined my cousin, 
“ but I cannot be generous enough to give you a frond. It can only 
