6 
THE FERN WORLD 
gigantic fronds of the great tree Ferns wave more gracefully 
in response to the gentle motion of the wind than the more 
rigid branches of other forest tree growths. But their 
delicacy of form is due to the peculiar conditions under 
which they grow, and not least to the soft moisture which 
continually surrounds them. Those of the graceful family 
which are exposed to the sun’s rays, wear a duller hue, and 
have less of the depth and brilliancy of colour, and less of 
the graceful drooping habit which are so characteristic of 
the species which hide beneath the deepest of the greenwood 
shade, or snugly nestle under the semi-darkness of clefts on 
the mountain side, or great rocks on the sea-girt shore. 
Sunshine and the free play of the air give greater stability 
and rigidity to these plants, but rob them of some of their 
characteristic beauty. It is the peculiar combination of 
heat, moisture, and shade in the great tropical forests, that 
encourages not only the most graceful but the most luxuriant 
growths of tropical Ferns. Such conditions, indeed, are, 
more or less, always congenial to vegetation, and hence it is 
that as they abound to so great an extent in the tropics, it 
is there that we find the greatest perfection in the gorgeous- 
ness of Nature’s garments. There, too, it is that the animal 
as well as the vegetable world wears more deep, rich, and 
brilliant colouring than in our soberer temperate climes. 
Hence those climes cannot produce the most luxuriant 
growths of Fern life, or its most brilliant and gorgeous 
colouring — neither the palm-like arborescent kinds, nor the 
gold and silver species which flourish in the tropics. 
We nevertheless possess in our British Ferns a great 
wealth of beauty and grace, and in some parts of these 
islands we have them in such profusion as to constitute 
a distinct element in the beauty of the landscape, whilst 
oftentimes in our woods and forests they acquire a luxuriance 
of growth almost suggestive of their tropical head-quarters. 
