FERN LAND. 
15 
riantly clothed with ferns. The number and variety 
of the most exquisite forms of these beautiful plants 
to be found in Devonshire are equalled by those of 
no other county in the United Kingdom. Devon- 
shire is emphatically the “ paradise ” of the British 
ferns. There they are in very truth at home. The 
soil and the air are adapted to them, and they adapt 
themselves to the whole aspect of the place. They 
clothe the hill-sides and the hill-tops ; they grow in 
the moist depths of the valleys ; they fringe the 
banks of the streams ; they are to be found in the 
recesses of the woods ; they hang from rocks and 
walls and trees, and crowd into the towns and vil- 
lages, fastening themselves with sweet familiarity 
even to the houses. 
Devonshire abounds in warm, moist, and shady 
nooks ; and ferns delight in warmth, moisture, and 
shade. Though they love the warmth, they avoid 
the sun, and when accidentally exposed to its full 
influence, their delicate fronds become shrivelled 
and discoloured. Yet these beautiful plants do 
occasionally coquet with the tiny sunbeam which 
may perchance find its way through some crevice 
